TPD releases bodycam footage of officers fatally shooting woman after 'ambush'
The Tallahassee Police Department published dramatic body-cam footage of a woman allegedly ambushing officers with an assault rifle at Tom Brown Park before they returned fire and killed her.
TPD on Monday posted on its YouTube channel nearly 16 minutes of edited footage from the incident, which happened the night of May 25 near a playground area in heavily wooded Tom Brown Park.
More: 'Very harrowing': Woman who opened fire on police in 'ambush' at Tom Brown Park shot and killed
The footage, which includes narration and subtitles, shows a lone officer spot the woman with his flashlight as he walks to his patrol car. The officer leaps to take cover behind an oak tree as numerous shots ring out in what police have labeled an “ambush.”
“Halt!” the officer shouts. “Halt!”
A gun battle between the woman, later identified as Asia Fitzgerald, 25, and eight officers lasted nearly a minute, according to the narrator, police spokeswoman Heather Merritt. Fitzgerald, who was homeless and living in a van, got off as many as 30 rounds before she was fatally wounded.
The fatal encounter happened as law enforcement was searching for a drug-trafficking suspect who had eluded them earlier. In a news release, Police Chief Lawrence Revell praised their actions.
"While this situation is one we never want to face, our officers receive regular training in areas such as officer ambush and active assailant responses," Revell said. "The actions of officers in this incident are a testament to their level of preparation and heroism when encountering dangerous situations that pose a threat to our community."
All of the officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which remains open and active. Once complete, TPD's findings will be reviewed by State Attorney Jack Campbell and presented to a grand jury.
A drug arrest before shots ring out
Officers arrived at the park around 8:30 p.m. after getting a 911 call that Durrell Lee, who was wanted on heroin trafficking and other charges, had been seen there with a firearm. When they got there, Lee can be seen sitting on a park bench, with another man — a friend of Fitzgerald’s, though police didn’t know that at the time.
Lee surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody on a litany of drug charges. The other man spoke briefly with police before invoking his right to remain silent. He mentioned a woman he was with and said she’d gone to get water.
“She’s my friend,” he said. “She said she met somebody and she wanted me to come out,” the man told the officer. “And we did. (Lee) said he can’t walk. He said he felt that he was unsafe. He said he had gotten into some bad stuff.”
The man said Lee explained to them “what was going on” as police pulled up to apprehend him. “He said here they are, they got me,” the man said.
The man denied knowing or meeting Lee before that night. Police can be heard saying that the man was on an FBI watch list but that they didn’t have “anything to hold him on until we can confirm some of that.” He was released and began walking away moments before gunfire erupted, the video footage shows.
Police reports: Asia Fitzgerald was homeless, possibly suicidal before the shooting
TPD’s YouTube video includes footage from multiple officers’ body cameras. In the footage involving the first officer, there is no audio at first because the Axon body-worn cameras police use don’t automatically begin recording until after 30 seconds or when an officer raises his weapon. Shots from a rifle can be heard once the audio kicks in after the officer raises his gun, police said.
Other footage shows officers moving in toward Fitzgerald once she was incapacitated. “Keep your hands away from that gun,” an officer shouts. The footage shows Fitzgerald motionless on the ground, with an AR-15 beside her. The gun was registered to Fitzgerald, Merritt said on Monday.
Police rendered aid at the scene, but Fitzgerald died shortly after at a local hospital. After the shooting, her friend who had been questioned earlier was questioned again and released. Merritt said police had no probable cause to charge him.
More than a month before the shooting, the man had reported Fitzgerald missing, telling police she hadn’t been seen for a couple of nights and was possibly suicidal.
According to a missing person report dated April 14, he told police that Fitzgerald “has been under a lot of stress recently and made comments that she has lost hope and has had thoughts of taking her life. Fitzgerald commented ... that she wanted to be free and with nature.”
The man said he and Fitzgerald were homeless and had been sleeping in a mini-van in the front yard of a house in Indian Head Acres. He said Fitzgerald, who left without shoes, didn’t have any friends or family in Florida and liked to “walk on walking trails and frequent various city parks.”
Fitzgerald showed up later that afternoon, however, and called police to tell them she was OK. She told an officer that she “needed to get away” but got lost on foot. She said fell asleep on a park bench but wasn’t sure where.
Merritt said the van Fitzgerald and her friend were living in was searched in the park after the shooting. Another gun, which also belonged to her, and more ammunition was found, Merritt said.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Police body camera shows video from 'ambush'
