You may have heard the case of Atatiana Jefferson, 28, who was killed by a Forth Worth police officer in her house. From the looks of it, this is a bad shooting and FWPD also played a dick move which makes me believe they k now so..
A Fort Worth police officer shot and killed a woman inside her own home early Saturday while responding to a call, officials said.
Officers responded to an “open structure” call around 2:25 a.m. near the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue, east of Interstate 35W, Fort Worth police said.
Body-camera footage shows the officer standing outside the front door of the home before walking around the side of the house and opening a gate to the backyard. The officer was in the backyard when he turned toward the window and shouted.
“Put your hands up. Show me your hands!” the officer yelled before firing once through the window, the bodycam footage shows.
Fort Worth police officer kills woman inside her own home, officials say
Here is the video
The officer never identified himself as one. He opens his mouth screaming and shoots immediately. Then at the end of the video, FWPD shows 2 still photos, blurred for the post part showing a pistol. So what if the person inside had a gun? The Officer walked around the outside of the house without identifying himself at 2:30 in the morning. His actions fits more the behavior of a prowler than a police officer doing a welfare check. Anyone of us would have had the heavy artillery out also. Showing the gun without zero context is a way to try and predispose the public into an acceptance of, if not a good shooting (that never exist for anybody) or at least a tragic accidental shooting rather than reckless disregard.
Forth Worth PD should rightfully take one in keister, if for nothing more than cheap attempts at manipulation.
Like DPD assassin Amber Guyger’s “accidental” shooting, this is another open and shut case of second degree murder, and nothing less.
It’s easily solved: simply notify all citizens in both municipalities that “shoot on sight” works the same both ways, and tell FWPD that any citizen who sees them on the streets may open fire without warning or any legal penalty, and see how they like it when the law is enforced the same both ways.
Alternatively, take away FWPD’s guns and body armor for six months, and let them re-learn how to function as cops instead of killers, starting with a month-long force-wide indoctrination into Peel’s Principles.
All of which to start after they fire and prosecute the officer who did this for murder, and discipline everyone involved who knew it but didn’t come forward or identify it as such, beginning with their termination.
Either there’s one set of laws for everyone, or there’s no law at all.
If FW chooses anarchy, I suspect citizens will fare much better than rogue cops will thereabouts, but it’s their choice.
Verdict before trial? Collective guilt?
The real gem in your rant is claiming a conviction somehow indicates the DPD thinks it’s above the law. It shows just the opposite!
This case looks like negligence at least, made worse by poor procedure. Generalized anti-cop ranting isn’t going to do anything good.
Having been in a nearly identical situation myself, I was told unequivocally by the state police officer that if he saw a gun, he would have shot me no questions asked. Fortunately for me, he A did not see me and B I was able to identify him before any decision to bring a weapon to bear was necessary; though it was still in my hand the whole time I observed a washed out figure holding a bright light slowly and quietly making their way around my yard and looking into various windows at literally 230am, exactly like a burglar might do.
Just like the other guy who got shot through his door side window, this seems unacceptable to me and a total failure on the officer’s and the department’s part.
How does a welfare check not start with the police ringing the doorbell and asking if everyone is alright?
This could have easily gone very bad the other way with the cop sneaking in the dark and catching a face full of shotgun.
Unfortunately it did not go the other way. That certainly would have been a far better outcome.
A news update earlier today reported that the cop in question resigned just before the chief got a chance to fire him. That doesn’t answer the question whether this was an individual failure or a consequence of a major training failure. It doesn’t end the investigation, said the chief, and one would hope the DA will continue as well.