*Community activists and the family of a Black woman fatally shot by a white police officer in her Fort Worth home after playing video games with her nephew are and demanding justice.
The officer who killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson early Saturday morning was responding to a welfare check and “didn’t have time to perceive a threat” before opening fire, the family’s attorney, Lee Merritt, said.
“You didn’t hear the officer shout, ‘Gun, gun, gun,’” Merritt said after viewing the officer’s bodycam video. “He didn’t have time to perceive a threat. That’s murder.”
Jefferson was watching her 8-year-old nephew when they both heard noises outside the house. According to reports, when the young woman went to look out her bedroom window to see what was up, a trigger happy cop shot through a window and killed her around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 12.
Bodycam video released by FWPD shows two officers searching the outside of the home with flashlights before one shouts, “Put your hands up, show me your hands.” The officer gave Jefferson four seconds to respond before shooting and killing her. The officer does not identify himself as police in the video. Nor do responding officers knock on the open front door of the house — instead, they creep around to the back and their movement is believed to have stirred Jefferson before she was fatally shot.
The Fort Worth Police Department said in a statement that officers saw someone near a window inside the home, and that one of them fired after “perceiving a threat.” They also released a photo of a gun found inside the home but so far, they are not pushing a wild tale about how Jefferson was armed with the weapon at the time of her death.
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Meteorologist Has Her Wig Snatched … Off by a Lemur During Live Report [WATCH]
James Smith said he saw the lights on and front doors open at his neighbor’s home overnight. He said he called a non emergency number for a wellness check. Smith said minutes later he heard a gunshot. @wfaa pic.twitter.com/7XYsVBCFz2
— Cleo Greene (@cgreeneWFAA) October 12, 2019
“It’s another one of those situations where the people that are supposed to protect us are actually not here to protect us,” Jefferson’s sister, Amber Carr, said. “You know, you want to see justice, but justice don’t bring my sister back.”
“It’s like from the moment we got the call, it’s been more and more inconceivable and more confusing. And there has nothing been done in order to take away that confusion,” said Jefferson’s aunt, Venitta Body,
Police said the officer — who has not been identified — has been on the force since April 2018, and he’s now on administrative leave pending an investigation.
James Smith, the neighbor who called the non-emergency number asking for a welfare check out Jefferson, told CBS 11 that he feels guilty over her death.
“I’m shaken. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I feel it’s partly my fault,” Smith said. “If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive.”
Smith said Jefferson and her nephew typically live with an older woman, who’s been in the hospital. So when he saw the front door to the home wide open (with the screen door closed), and the lights on inside the home in the early hours of Saturday morning, he found it concerning enough to call police and ask for a welfare check.
Kyev Tatum, a pastor and community activist, explained to NPR why Jefferson may have had her front door open.
“This was probably one of the first days that we had cool weather in Fort Worth. This was a cool evening. I’m sure she allowed the door to be open to air out the house, to get some fresh air in the house,” Tatum said.
This is Atatiana Jefferson. She was 28 yrs old, a graduate of Xavier Univ. and lived w/ her nephew.
A Fort Worth, TX cop shot and killed her thru her window as she stood peacefully and unarmed in her own home.
Black people are subject to deadly force even when they stay home. pic.twitter.com/09dA2nl3v5
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) October 13, 2019
Smith told local television station WFAA that that there was “no domestic violence” and “no arguing” going on inside the home at the time of his call
“No domestic violence, no arguing,” he said. “Nothing that they should have been concerned with, as far as them coming with guns drawn to my neighbor’s house. There wasn’t any reason for a gunshot that I know of,” he said. “She wasn’t a threat.”
He added that he saw no police lights, heard no sirens and noted that officers failed to identify themselves before the shooting.
“It makes you not want to call the police department,” he said.
Merritt said Jefferson’s family expects “a thorough and expedient investigation.” In the meantime, the family has launched a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs and other expenses related to this case.
The Fort Worth Police Officers Association has since released the following statement in part:
Any loss of life is tragic, but the reported circumstances surrounding this incident are heartbreaking. We join with the citizens of Fort Worth in mourning the death of one of our young community members. We are urging the Fort Worth Police Department to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, and through that investigation we hope to gain clarity and understanding of what exactly transpired.
The shooting comes less than two weeks after former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of murdering her upstairs neighbor Botham Jean as he ate ice cream in his apartment.
“How are these officers killing people in their own homes, minding their own business?” Tatum said to NPR. “We have absolutely no faith in our police department.”
Atatiana Jefferson.
Xavier University grad.
Pre-Med.Sad that we have to share this, but @MeritLaw and I have long since learned that police departments and DA’s will destroy the character of their victims if you let them.
Atatiana Jefferson was a kind, brilliant soul. pic.twitter.com/CAv5KNSZHe
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 13, 2019
Merritt said Jefferson was a pre-medicine graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and was working at the time in pharmaceutical equipment sales.
“Her mom had recently gotten very sick, so she was home taking care of the house and loving her life,” Merritt said.
Tatum noted that Jefferson having a weapon inside her home should not justify the use of deadly force.
“If you hear some noise in your backyard early in the morning when you’re with your 8-year-old nephew, well of course anyone in their right mind is going to try to protect themselves and others, especially a child,” Tatum said. “But the officer reacted so quickly and never identified himself as a police officer.”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
