White Police Officer Shoots Black Woman Dead Inside Her Own Home

Atatiana Jefferson/Facebook/Fort Worth Police Department

A police officer in Texas fatally shot a woman inside her own home yesterday, October 12, after authorities were called to the property because its doors were open.

Her neighbour reportedly alerted police to the property at around 2.25am because they found it unusual the doors were open and the lights were on. They called a non-emergency police number asking them to do a welfare check as they knew the woman was home with her 8-year-old nephew.

28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson sadly died in a bedroom in the house, after the responding officer approached the house to check the perimeter, saw a figure through the window and fired a shot.

You can watch the bodycam footage of the incident here. It contains scenes some viewers may find upsetting:

According to the neighbour, police parked around the corner from the house. Roughly 15 minutes later, the neighbour heard a loud bang and saw several more officers rush inside, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Bodycam footage of the incident shows officers using flashlights to check the outside of the house. At the back of the house, one officer apparently sees a figure inside through the window. He shouts ‘Put your hands up, show me your hands!’ before firing a single shot through the window. The man does not identify himself as a police officer.

Fort Worth Police Department

Jefferson was reportedly playing video games inside the house with her nephew when she heard noises outside. She went to the window to check if there was someone outside, which is seemingly when the officer saw her and fired a shot.

In a statement, Fort Worth Police Department said:

Perceiving a threat, the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence. Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.

As well as the bodycam footage, authorities released photographs of a firearm they said they found inside the property, but did not say whether Jefferson was holding it when they shot her.

Fort Worth Police Department

The neighbour who alerted police to the scene, 62-year-old James Smith, said he was only trying to be a good neighbour, calling police on a non-emergency number so they could check up on Jefferson and her nephew.

He said: ‘I’m shaken. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I feel it’s partly my fault. If I had never dialled the police department, she’d still be alive.’

Since the incident, black community leaders called a press conference to urge the city authorities to act quickly and hold the officer in question accountable.

Pastor Michael Bell read the police’s statement in his Greater Saint Stephen Baptist Church, in which the police say there was a ‘perceived threat’. Bell said: ‘Ain’t no ‘perceived threat’ — unless it’s black folk. Just our presence — we’re the threat.’

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Jefferson’s neighbour said the community looks after each other, and he only called the non-emergency number out of concern for her welfare, as Jefferson and her nephew usually live with an older woman who had recently been in hospital.

He said: ‘When I saw the doors open, I thought about [the child], I thought about his grandma, I thought about his aunt. And I wanted to make sure they were safe. That’s all I wanted to do.’

Smith added:

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? Do you just ignore crime or ignore something that’s not right?

They tell you, ‘If you see something, say something.’ Well, if you do that and it costs somebody to lose their life, it makes you not want to do that. And that’s sad.

Jefferson was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer, whose name has not been released, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident. Police said they are at the ‘preliminary stages of this critical investigation’.

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677

Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.