FORT WORTH, Texas _ The fatal shooting of a 28-year-old black woman in her home by a white Fort Worth police officer has drawn swift condemnation, calls for police accountability and mourning for a life cut short.
Atatiana Jefferson became the sixth person since June who has been killed by one of the department's officers. A seventh person was wounded.
Fort Worth police have not responded to questions Sunday about Jefferson's shooting, including who else was home at the time she was shot through a bedroom window and whether the officer who fired at her identified himself after arriving at the home.
Attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Jefferson's family, said she had been at home playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew.
"Her mom had recently gotten very sick, so she was home taking care of the house and loving her life," he wrote on Facebook. "There was no reason for her to be murdered. None. We must have justice."
The officer, whose name has not been released, has been on the force since April 2018.
He arrived at the home about 2:30 a.m. in response to a call about an "open structure," the department said.
A neighbor, James Smith, said he'd called a non-emergency line to ask police do a welfare check when he noticed the front door was open at the home where Jefferson was.
Smith said he didn't know what happened inside the house after police arrived.
"All I know is my neighbor died unnecessarily at the hands of the Fort Worth Police Department," he said.
There was no sign that anything violent was going on inside the house before the officers arrived, he said.
"All they had to do was announce who they were and if she heard them, she'd probably come to the door to see who was at her front door," Smith said.
In the six other shootings since June, Fort Worth police reported clear signs of provocation by the five people who were killed and the one who was wounded.
Police haven't said whether the officer who killed Jefferson had tried knocking on the front door before the shooting.
In body-camera footage released Saturday, the officer who shot Jefferson is seen walking around the backyard of the home.
About a minute and a half into the video, he swivels toward a window, then yells, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" and fires into the window within about three seconds.
The department said the officer perceived a threat before firing but hasn't said what that threat was. A firearm was found inside a bedroom in the house, but authorities haven't said whether Jefferson had been holding it when she was killed.
Merritt said Jefferson and her nephew heard what they thought was a prowler in the backyard. When she went to see what was happening, she was confronted by an officer and had only seconds to comply, Merritt said.
One of Jefferson's sisters, Amber Carr, told KXAS-TV (NBC5) that her sister's shooting was "another one of those situations where the people that are supposed to protect us are actually not here to protect us."
Carr said she wants justice for her sister.
"But justice don't bring my sister back, you know?" she said.
Jefferson's aunt told the station that the news of her niece's death has grown "more inconceivable and more confusing" in the hours since it unfolded.
Jefferson graduated in 2014 from Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black Catholic college in New Orleans. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology, a statement from university President Reynold Verret said.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with her family and friends as we gather as a community in prayer," Verret said in a letter to the Xavier community. "As we wait for details of this incident to unfold, let us cling to our mission of justice and humanity and seek answers to this tragedy."
The Fort Worth Police Officers Association said in a news release Sunday that the union urges the department to conduct a "thorough and transparent investigation" in the wake of Jefferson's death.
"Any loss of life is tragic, but the reported circumstances surrounding this incident are heartbreaking," the statement read. "We join with the citizens of Fort Worth in mourning the death of one of our young community members."
Outrage over Jefferson's death spread quickly on social media. Several Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Kamala Harris and former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, weighed in.
"The officer gave Atatiana Jefferson four seconds to respond before shooting and killing her," Harris wrote on Twitter. "Being Black in your own home shouldn't be a death sentence."
O'Rourke called for accountability and expressed condolences to Jefferson's family.
"As we mourn with Atatiana's loved ones, we must demand accountability and promise to fight until no family has to face a tragedy like this again," he tweeted.
Former Housing and Development secretary and fellow Texan Julian Castro shared an article about Jefferson's death, saying police shouldn't make people "unsafe in our own homes."
"How many articles do we need to read or videos do we need to watch before we do something to reform policing in this country?" he asked on Twitter.
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., responded to news of Jefferson's death on Twitter, saying, "State-sanctioned violence against Black people is a persistent evil in this nation."
Some activists compared Jefferson's death to the case of Botham Jean, who was killed in his apartment last year by former Dallas Officer Amber Guyger. She was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this month.
"First Botham Jean, now Atatiana Jefferson," said Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns for Color of Change, an online racial justice organization. "Nowhere are Black people safe from police violence, not even in their own homes, living their own lives. We cannot imagine the shock and grief being experienced right now by Jefferson's family and community."
The organization called for an independent investigation and appointment of a special prosecutor in the case, citing distrust of Tarrant County's district attorney.
It also called on Fort Worth police to release the name of the officer who shot Jefferson.
A GoFundMe campaign to support Jefferson's family had raised more than $50,000 by Sunday afternoon.
Fort Worth police shootings since June
June 1: Cody Wayne Seals
On June 1, a Fort Worth SWAT officer fatally shot a man who had pointed a flashlight at police moments before he was shot.
Cody Wayne Seals, a 38 year-old white man, died of a wound to the neck, according to medical examiner's records. Seals' family had called police about his "aggressive behavior," police said.
Officers arrived about 6:40 p.m. to the 5700 block of Sixth Avenue that evening, where they say Seals chambered a round and pointed a long rifle at responding officers.
He then barricaded himself inside a home, they said. When he exited the home, he pointed what police thought was a gun at the officers, according to the report. The object was later determined to be a flashlight.
It's unclear how long Seals was barricaded inside the home, but medical examiner's records show he died at 10:14 p.m. the night he was shot.
The officer who shot Seals was a 33-year-old white man and a 10-year veteran of the department, according to police and an officer-involved shooting report filed with the state.
June 5: Esteban Vasquez
A Fort Worth officer shot a man who lunged at him while he was investigating a possible burglary June 5, police said.
Officers were called to the 4900 block of Rickee Drive, near Interstate 35W and Interstate 20, after a homeowner called police and said a man was threatening him with a gun.
One officer confronted the suspect, 27-year-old Esteban Vasquez, who was described in police reports as a Hispanic man.
When the officer told Vasquez he would need to pat him down, Vasquez said he wasn't going back to prison and lunged toward the officer. The officer used a stun gun on Vasquez, who removed the probes from the wires and stood back up, moving toward the officer.
The officer then shot Vasquez in the upper body, police said.
Vasquez survived the shooting. In his mugshot at the Tarrant County Jail, where he remains in custody as of Sunday, Vasquez has bandaging around his neck.
The officer was described as a 27-year-old Hispanic man and a two-year veteran of the department. He was uninjured.
June 9: JaQuavion Tyreke Slaton
Three Fort Worth officers opened fire on a man June 9.
JaQuavion Tyreke Slaton, 20, died of multiple gunshot wounds to his head and chest. He was shot six times _ each wound could have been fatal except one to his arm, the Tarrant County medical examiner's office said. One wound was self-inflicted, but its not clear whether that was deliberate or accidental.
Slaton's cause of death is listed as undetermined.
Police released footage of the encounter, in which the three officers can be seen repeatedly shouting at Slaton to drop a gun before they opened fire.
Police had been looking for Slaton, who they said was wanted on an aggravated assault charge stemming from an incident at the University of Texas at Tyler.
When he was pulled over June 9, he fled on foot, police wrote in a custodial death report. Police wrote in the report that while he was running, Slaton dropped a handgun and picked it back up before barricading himself inside a vehicle.
The officers who fired on Slaton, a black man, were all white, ages 35, 38 and 39.
July 18: Markevvion Devonte Cannon
A Fort Worth officer fatally shot 19-year-old Markevvion Devonte Cannon after the man used children as human shields while firing at police July 18, authorities said.
A woman called police that morning, whispering to the dispatcher that a man with a gun was with her in an apartment in the 2900 block of Broadmoor Drive. She said she was with three other people, including children.
SWAT officers saw Cannon firing shots at police from a third-floor window, police said. When officers breached the door after attempting to negotiate with Cannon, they found him in a walk-in closet with a 12-year-old and 15-year-old positioned "directly in front of him," police said.
Cannon pointed his gun at an officer, who grabbed it and tried to point it up toward the ceiling. During the struggle, the officer used his service weapon to shoot Cannon in the head.
Cannon was a black man. The officer who shot him was a 34-year-old white man, according to a state officer-involved shooting report.
Aug. 11: John Michael George
A Fort Worth officer fatally shot 46-year-old John Michael George while responding to a domestic disturbance Aug. 11, according to officials.
Officers were called to a home in the 5800 block of Blue Ridge Drive. When an officer went in and encountered a man with a gun, the officer opened fire.
A cause of death for George, a white man, is listed as pending by the medical examiner's office. The officer who shot him was described in a report as a 30-year-old black man. He had been on the force for two years, police said.
Aug. 21: Amari Malone
An officer shot and killed 18-year-old Amari Malone, who had been identified as a person of interest in a recent homicide, on Aug. 21.
Fort Worth officers saw Malone near Boca Raton Boulevard and Oakland Hills Drive, and an officer pulled up next to him, asking to talk to him.
Police released body-camera footage after the shooting that showed Malone pointing a gun at officers as he ran from them.
Four officers _ three of whom were Hispanic men ages 31, 33 and 37, and a white 43-year-old _ opened fire at Malone, a black teenager, as they chased him. He died of a gunshot wound to the back, according to medical examiner's records.
The officers had been with the department between three and 17 years, police said.
