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An officer fatally shot a woman inside her home early Saturday morning after Fort Worth police were called to the house to do a welfare check, according to police and the neighbor who called them.
Fort Worth police released a statement Saturday afternoon saying that at 2:25 a.m. Central Division officers responded to a call in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue. The caller said the front door of the house was open.
Responding officers searched the perimeter of the house and saw a person standing inside the home near a window, police said in the news release.
“Perceiving a threat the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” the statement said. “Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.”
The person who the officer shot, a black woman who lived at the house, was pronounced dead on the scene. The officer, a white man who has been with the department since April 2018, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the critical police incident investigation, the statement said.
The medical examiner’s office has not yet publicly identified the woman.
“The Fort Worth police Major Case unit, Internal Affairs unit and the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Law Enforcement Incident Team were notified and made the scene to conduct their aspect of the investigation to ensure all information and evidence was captured and preserved,” the police department statement said.
Police released some video of the incident Saturday but said they were unable to release video from inside the house, citing state law.
The video, which is a little over a minute long, show two officers checking outside the house before spotting the woman through a window. One officer who is holding a flashlight shouts, “Put your hand up! Show me your hands!” and then fires his gun, according to the video.
Police also released photos that show a gun found inside a bedroom of the house, but it was unclear whether or not the woman was holding the gun when she was shot.
James Smith, who lives across the street from the woman’s home in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue, said around 2 a.m. he could see two doors of the home were open and all of the lights were left on. He called a non-emergency Fort Worth police number, requesting someone come to the residence to check on his neighbor. She lived with an aunt who has been in the hospital, he said, and her 8-year-old nephew who was home.
About 15 minutes later, Smith said, he heard a loud bang and then saw around five to 10 officers run into the home.
Smith stood outside his home as more than 20 units responded to the scene, he said. He saw a woman being wheeled out of the home in a body bag toward a coroner’s vehicle.
Fort Worth police released a statement Saturday afternoon saying that at 2:25 a.m. Central Division officers responded to a call in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue. The caller said the front door of the house was open.
Responding officers searched the perimeter of the house and saw a person standing inside the home near a window, police said in the news release.
“Perceiving a threat the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” the statement said. “Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.”
The person who the officer shot, a black woman who lived at the house, was pronounced dead on the scene. The officer, a white man who has been with the department since April 2018, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the critical police incident investigation, the statement said.
The medical examiner’s office has not yet publicly identified the woman.
“The Fort Worth police Major Case unit, Internal Affairs unit and the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Law Enforcement Incident Team were notified and made the scene to conduct their aspect of the investigation to ensure all information and evidence was captured and preserved,” the police department statement said.
Police released some video of the incident Saturday but said they were unable to release video from inside the house, citing state law.
The video, which is a little over a minute long, show two officers checking outside the house before spotting the woman through a window. One officer who is holding a flashlight shouts, “Put your hand up! Show me your hands!” and then fires his gun, according to the video.
Police also released photos that show a gun found inside a bedroom of the house, but it was unclear whether or not the woman was holding the gun when she was shot.
James Smith, who lives across the street from the woman’s home in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue, said around 2 a.m. he could see two doors of the home were open and all of the lights were left on. He called a non-emergency Fort Worth police number, requesting someone come to the residence to check on his neighbor. She lived with an aunt who has been in the hospital, he said, and her 8-year-old nephew who was home.
About 15 minutes later, Smith said, he heard a loud bang and then saw around five to 10 officers run into the home.
Smith stood outside his home as more than 20 units responded to the scene, he said. He saw a woman being wheeled out of the home in a body bag toward a coroner’s vehicle.
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