Police officer who fatally shot Black woman through her window says he thought a burglary was taking place
‘We are taught to meet deadly force with deadly force. We’re not taught that we have to wait’
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A former Texas officer who fatally shot a Black woman through a window in her home has claimed in testimony before court that he thought a burglary was taking place at the time and that he saw a gun “pointed” at him before shooting.
Aaron Dean, the now-former police officer, is charged with fatally shooting 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson inside her Fort Worth, Texas, home on 12 October 2019.
Mr Dean said at the murder trial on Monday that he was responding to a call about open doors at Jefferson’s home. He added that as he was searching the home’s parameters, he saw someone in the window holding a gun toward him.
Officials said Jefferson, who was playing video games with her then-eight-year-old nephew, was holding a gun when she was killed.
Her nephew later told authorities his aunt pulled out a gun after hearing suspicious noises behind the house. Body-camera footage showed Mr Dean did not identify himself as police.
He resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department after the shooting.
Mr Dean said he was responding to an “open structure” call around 2.30am on 12 October 2019.
A neighbour had called a non-emergency number about his concerns of open doors at Jefferson’s home.
On Monday, Mr Dean said he saw the home’s front inner door open and objects “strewn all over the floor” inside and thought a burglary was taking place.
He said he had entered Jefferson’s backyard through a fence with his partner and approached the home, when he saw the silhouette of a person inside the home near a window.
“I thought we had a burglar and so I stepped back, straightened up and drew my weapon and then pointed it towards the figure,” he said.
“I’m just looking right down the barrel of the gun and when I saw the barrel of that gun pointed at me, I fired a single shot from my duty weapon.”
“When my vision cleared, then I observed the person that we now know is Miss Jefferson. I heard her scream and then saw her fall,” he added.
When he was asked by his attorney why he shot through the window as quickly as he did, he responded: “We are taught to meet deadly force with deadly force. We’re not taught that we have to wait.”
“I wasn’t upset, I was confused because I didn’t know if… it was a dream and I wasn’t waking up still,” said Jefferson’s 11-year-old nephew in harrowing remarks earlier last week during the opening arguments of the trial.
The jury chuckled when Zion said the open front door, which attracted the police call in the first place, was because he and his beloved aunt “Tay” had been cooking – and burning – hamburgers they planned to eat during a late-night session playing the Call of Duty video game.
At various points during his testimony, the 11-year-old choked up, and could be heard sobbing in a hallway during breaks.