Ed Kraus, the Fort Worth police chief, identified the officer as Aaron Dean and said he had been with the department since April 2018. He said the department had launched a criminal investigation into the shooting and that he expected a “substantial update” on the case by Tuesday.
Kraus said that he had reached out to the FBI about potentially launching a civil rights investigation into the shooting. Dean, who is white, shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson, who is black, through her bedroom window, killing her with a single shot. Her family Monday demanded answer, and said the officer should face criminal charges.
“This man murdered someone,” Jefferson’s brother, Darius Carr, said at a news conference Monday. “He should be arrested.”
The family also demanded that an outside agency investigate the shooting, saying they did not trust the Fort Worth Police Department to conduct an impartial inquiry.
“Why this man is not in handcuffs right now is a source of continued agitation for this family and for this community, and it must be addressed,” said S. Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the family.
Jefferson had been up late playing Xbox with her 8-year-old nephew, who was still in the room when she was shot.
Jefferson died in her bedroom after officers tried to provide medical assistance, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.
Two police officers drove to her home after her neighbor called a nonemergency line at 2:23 a.m. Saturday and asked for officers to check on the house because its front and side doors had been open for several hours. The officers parked about a block away and quietly crept around outside the house, passing by the two open doors and opening a gate to the backyard, according to body camera video.
One officer shone a light through Jefferson’s bedroom window and, seeing Jefferson, shot her just seconds after he shouted, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!”
He never identified himself as a police officer, according to Lt. Brandon O’Neil, a department spokesman. The department said in an initial statement that the officer had perceived “a threat” but did not elaborate.
This article originally appeared in
.