TX - Atatiana Jefferson, 28, fatally shot at home, Fort Worth, Oct 2019 *officer charged*

[Artis]

Even if they thought a crime was taking place, the easiest thing to do was to place an officer or two (since I think 5 were there) in the back and go to the door. The house was lit and they would have been able to see who was inside. Any perpetrator would have run out the back with the yard officers able to apprehend them. I keep shaking my head as I think about this story. This is a failure in policing. Why would they park away from the scene? Not announce themselves? Not go to the front where the door was open? This woman did not have to die or even get shot.

That poor neighbor. I understand why he feels he may have had a hand in her death. Although I will say, that he probably feels like the families of people who were having a mental crisis/breakdown and call for help only to have their loved one killed because policing does not take into account mental health issues-- thinking, "I called for help and they responded with lethal force."

My heart really goes out that guy. I would be gutted and blame myself.

They had no business in her backyard, period. They have no business on private property unless called by the property owner or serving a warrant.

 

[Artis]

Oh yes. Clear neighbor did nothing wrong. And I am heartbroken broken for him. Was just wondering where the communication breakdown occurred from neighbor to dispatch to LE that his welfare check call turned into emergent crime occurring, as what seems to have been the response. Call came in as an open structure. Neighbors usually home but never has door open. How did that become an emergent response? MOO

ETA:Call even states both vehicles in driveway so LE at the very least should have assumed owners were home when they arrived. Moo

I just had a thought. Maybe welfare checks 9and I don't mean sneaking around someone's property) should be the purview of the fire department. They take health and other emergency calls and seem never to kill anyone.

 

[Artis]

Any thoughts what charges are going to be filed, murder or manslaughter?

Texas Penal code defines manslaughter as

Sec. 19.04. MANSLAUGHTER. (a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly causes the death of an individual.

Murder is defined as

Sec. 19.02. MURDER. (a) In this section:

(1) "Adequate cause" means cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool reflection.

(2) "Sudden passion" means passion directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.

(b) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual;

(2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual; or

(3) commits or attempts to commit a felony, other than manslaughter, and in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt, or in immediate flight from the commission or attempt, he commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual.

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.

(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second degree.

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE

Manslaughter is a felony of the second degree, 2-20 years in prison.

Under Texas law, when Amber Guyger said she shot to kill, it became murder. Cops don't shoot to disable and this cop shot to kill, like he was trained to do.

 

[Rocky1]

I'm glad they are taught to shoot to kill and if you don't think they need re-training, we'll have to agree to disagree.

My point was that if he was retrained, he'd be trained the same way that he was trained a year ago last April, and imo, up until the time cases like Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner are overruled, nothing will change.
Cops have many weapons at their disposal.
Pepper spray, night sticks/billy clubs, tasers, and a hand gun. I know that in this case, if the cop had to, (and I'm not saying that he did whatsoever) the only effective weapon would have been his hand gun, however, it seems to me anyway, that in way too many cases, that's the first thing they go to... their handgun, and it has to stop.

 

[Rocky1]

Respectfully JMO


So if you were to hear a noise coming from your backyard right now as you are reading this comment, your first thought would be that it's just a police officer walking through your backyard????

And you would be so confident in your assumption that you would NOT take any steps to protect yourself or your family members?

You then would be able to visually confirm this is a police officer within 4 seconds by looking out a window from a lit up room into outside darkness??

And then would be able to comply with the spoken orders of 'put your hands up, show me your ha..." in a shorter amont of time than 1.7 seconds?

If the answer to just one of these questions is a no, not necessarily, or not sure .........anything other than an absolute 99.999% yes, I'd like to know why.... Why would this situation with Atatiana be any different for her?




JMO MOO

Not only looking out a window from a lit up room, but having a 1600 lumen flashlight blinding you in the process.
Black clothing, chances are, nothing shiny... (most cops wear a shirt with a sewed on badge now).. That has burglar written all over it, imo.

 

[Momof4RN]

I understand your feelings.

Wow. There was blurry body cam video still-footage of a gun and now there is someone posting that she pointed a gun directly at the officer and he could clearly see it.

No. No proof she was holding a gun or near a gun, let alone pointing it at the officer. Rumors get started when people jump to conclusions before the facts are in.
...2 Cents....

I just want to add the only command he made was to put her hands up and let him see her hands. That indicates to me he couldn’t See her hands. Therefore never saw a gun. MOO

 

[Momof4RN]

Because someone pointing a gun at a police officer is not a threat to the officer? She could see out the window that it was the police, and I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them. Just because second-guessers cannot see her in the window from the body camera, the officer could see her and her gun, he had his flashlight pointed at the window.

Tragic yes of course, but No criminal charges IMO

I have to wonder if you watched the body camera footage yourself? It’s disturbing and extremely difficult to come to the conclusion u just made. IMO it is more likely she was peeking through blinds into the dark to determine what she heard. Cop flashes a light into window is going cause a glare and inhibit her ability to see anything much less determine it is a cop. The police officers parked out of view of home (why I have no idea) and then they never announced themselves when they arrived. No way of her knowing they were there and why would she suspect they were? I am also not going to assume she was pointing a gun at the police because he never announced to his fellow officers he saw one and never ordered her to drop one.
I am one who respects police officers. They have a tough job. The majority of them are good at what they do and perform their duties in accordance with the oath they all made. However, there are a few that just aren’t police material. And this guy was one. He failed to follow policy and procedure. He failed to serve and protect and that’s what got this beautiful life killed. JMHO

ETA for spelling errors

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Because someone pointing a gun at a police officer is not a threat to the officer? She could see out the window that it was the police, and I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them. Just because second-guessers cannot see her in the window from the body camera, the officer could see her and her gun, he had his flashlight pointed at the window.

Tragic yes of course, but No criminal charges IMO

"I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them". "She could see out the window that it was the police".
You have "no doubt". Really? Are you Carnack the Magnificent? Are you a communicator? How have you come across this knowledge? Holy cow. Why are we spending money on investigations when you've so simply nailed it?

 

[Momof4RN]

I just want to add the only command he made was to put her hands up and let him see her hands. That indicates to me he couldn’t See her hands. Therefore never saw a gun. MOO

Had she been pointing a gun at him he would have or at least should have commanded “Police! Drop your weapon!”IMO

 

[jjenny]

Had she been pointing a gun at him he would have or at least should have commanded “Police! Drop your weapon!”IMO

And at least give a person a time to respond to any commands.

 

[jjenny]

I just had a thought. Maybe welfare checks 9and I don't mean sneaking around someone's property) should be the purview of the fire department. They take health and other emergency calls and seem never to kill anyone.

Well, nobody is going to send a fire department in a situation where there is a potential burglary (as this one presumably sounded since doors were left open). Fireman aren't armed with guns.

 

[jjenny]

Because someone pointing a gun at a police officer is not a threat to the officer? She could see out the window that it was the police, and I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them. Just because second-guessers cannot see her in the window from the body camera, the officer could see her and her gun, he had his flashlight pointed at the window.

Tragic yes of course, but No criminal charges IMO

If she had a flash light in her face she likely wouldn't have been able to see any details. Try to look out window with flashlight in your face and then report to us what you can see. Furthermore it all happened within seconds. She had no time to respond to any commands, how could she respond to these commands?

 

[jjenny]

My heart really goes out that guy. I would be gutted and blame myself.

They had no business in her backyard, period. They have no business on private property unless called by the property owner or serving a warrant.

And if the owner inside is actually getting burglarized and can't call for help? They can go investigate if something is amiss. In this case presumably open doors allowed them to do so.

 

[sds71]

Reporter asks Lt. O'Neil if officer who killed AtatianaJefferson was threatened w/ a gun (FWPD released pic of gun they found in house) O'Neil couldn't answer. Why release images? reporter asks. O'Neil says he doesn't want to answer what will be gone over at presser tomorrow.
Nichole Manna (@NicholeManna) on Twitter

 

[jjenny]

Had she been pointing a gun at him he would have or at least should have commanded “Police! Drop your weapon!”IMO

And that is a really good point. Even if she had a gun in her hand, he probably didn't see it when he shot, because he didn't command her to drop it. He also didn't identify himself as police.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

My point was that if he was retrained, he'd be trained the same way that he was trained a year ago last April, and imo, up until the time cases like Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner are overruled, nothing will change.
Cops have many weapons at their disposal.
Pepper spray, night sticks/billy clubs, tasers, and a hand gun. I know that in this case, if the cop had to, (and I'm not saying that he did whatsoever) the only effective weapon would have been his hand gun, however, it seems to me anyway, that in way too many cases, that's the first thing they go to... their handgun, and it has to stop.

But there are so many firearms in this country. Legal and illegal. So much ammo. Is it any wonder that the handgun is their go-to in a conflict? Of course they assume they'll be shot. Many officers are. Sometimes they even imagine a weapon because it's so ingrained in our consciousness. The genie is out of the bottle.

 

[Gardenista]

Because someone pointing a gun at a police officer is not a threat to the officer? She could see out the window that it was the police, and I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them. Just because second-guessers cannot see her in the window from the body camera, the officer could see her and her gun, he had his flashlight pointed at the window.

Tragic yes of course, but No criminal charges IMO

Very few of the officer involved shootings that got national coverage were unjustified--I'd say in the single digits percentage-wise. That being said, from what we've seen, this was unjustified whether she was holding a gun or not. She had every right to defend her home.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Because someone pointing a gun at a police officer is not a threat to the officer? She could see out the window that it was the police, and I have no doubt that she was pointing that gun at them. Just because second-guessers cannot see her in the window from the body camera, the officer could see her and her gun, he had his flashlight pointed at the window.

Tragic yes of course, but No criminal charges IMO

We have no idea if she knew the police were on her property or not. They certainly made zero effort to make their presence known. Those flashlights blind people, that's what they're designed to do. Mostly for good reason. I 100% support LE, until they pull a stunt like this.

 

[BeachSky]

Reporter asks Lt. O'Neil if officer who killed AtatianaJefferson was threatened w/ a gun (FWPD released pic of gun they found in house) O'Neil couldn't answer. Why release images? reporter asks. O'Neil says he doesn't want to answer what will be gone over at presser tomorrow.
Nichole Manna (@NicholeManna) on Twitter

Twitter

A #NewsConference is scheduled for 1 p.m.
at 505 W. Felix St in the main auditorium.
Media outlets only. Interim Chief Kraus & city leaders will speak.

 

[nrdsb4]

You have "no doubt". Really? Are you Carnack the Magnificent?

Lol. Even though it's a tragic story, this made me smile.

I'm one to give police the benefit of the doubt until all facts are known. But just based on the police version of this story, it's not looking good for the officer.

The only way to get even a chance at visualizing someone in your yard at night is to turn off the lights in the room in which you are standing. Add the flashlight, there is probably no chance at all that she could have seen who was out there. Add into that the fact that he didn't identify himself as a police officer and that he didn't give her an opportunity to answer his commands, she was a goner the minute they arrived.

The only place where I differ from most of the comments is the likelihood that this was a purposeful hit or that the officer was a psychopath. This kind of thing isn't psychopath behavior imo. Psychopaths like to have fun killing..stalking and playing with the victim a bit beforehand...like a cat with a mouse. This was too one and done and to me suggests a jumpy, overly fearful and distrustful, unfit for service type of individual. Incompetent and too easily startled.