STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Black Woman Shot And Killed In Her Home By Fort Worth Police After A Neighbor Reported Her Door Was Open

Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, 28, was in her bathroom when she was shot through a window.

A Black woman was shot and killed by police while she was inside her home early Saturday morning (October 12) after her neighbor called a non-emergency number for a wellness check on her.

Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, 28, was in her bathroom at her home when she was gunned down, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fort Worth Police issued a statement claiming officers from its central division responded to a call shortly before 2:25 a.m. and searched the perimeter of the house on East Allen Avenue.

An officer then reported seeing someone through the window of the home and drew his weapon, firing one shot that killed Jefferson.

“The individual, a Black female, who resides at the residence succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased on the scene,” the FWPD’s statement read. “The officer, a white male who has been with the department since April of 2018, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome [of] the critical police incident investigation.”

Fort Worth police say that after the shooting took place, officers entered the home and found the resident and a firearm. They reportedly then began administering emergency care.

Footage of the incident from the body camera of the officer who shot into the window has been released. In it, the officer spots the open door of the residence, where the lights were on, and subsequently walking around the house’s perimeter with a fellow officer.

After walking through the gate, the officer on the body cam looks through the window where he presumably sees a person. That’s when he raises his flashlight and firearm at the window and screams, “Put your hands up, show me your hands!” He then fires a shot within four seconds.

Texas is an open carry state and it’s unclear whether the gun found in Jefferson’s residence and in the body cam footage was on her at the time of the shooting.

James Smith, the neighbor across the street who made the non-emergency call out of concern, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that two doors at the home were ajar with the lights on. He said that Jefferson lived with an aunt who had been in the hospital and her eight-year-old nephew. He now regrets making the call to law enforcement.

“If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive,” Smith said to the newspaper. “It makes you not want to call the police department. If you don’t feel safe with the police department, then who do you feel safe with?”

According to Atatiana Jefferson’s Facebook page, she was born in Dallas and was a student at Xavier University of Louisiana studying biology.

This latest shooting comes weeks after Amber Guyger, a former cop in neighboring Dallas, was found guilty of fatally shooting Botham Jean, an unarmed Black man in his home. Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 6, 2018, a sentence many found to be too light.

Our condolences are with Atatiana Jefferson’s family and friends during this difficult time. We will keep you updated with every detail of this story it progresses.

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