Witness Captures Officer's Struggle With Woman, Fatal Shots

It's under investigation in Baytown, Texas
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 14, 2019 12:37 PM CDT

A witness recorded a Texas police officer fatally shooting a woman he was trying to arrest—after she can be heard on the video yelling, "I'm pregnant." But the woman's family says she was not pregnant, and an autopsy will confirm one way or the other, ABC News reports. The incident unfolded Monday night, when the unnamed officer was patrolling a Baytown apartment complex and recognized the woman from past encounters. The Baytown Police Department says in a statement that the officer knew she had outstanding warrants and attempted to arrest her. She can be heard on the video accusing him of harassing her, KTRK reports. A struggle ensued and the officer used his Taser on her, but she allegedly grabbed it from him and used it on him as he was trying to handcuff her. That's when he shot multiple times.

He then attempted to render aid, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not released the 44-year-old woman's name or any other details about the outstanding warrants, but someone who says she is the woman's sister tells Click2Houston the woman was on medication for schizophrenia. The officer, an 11-year veteran of the force, is on paid administrative leave, as is standard in such incidents. Both the police department and the Harris County DA's office are investigating. They want to speak to the witness who shot the video of the encounter, KHOU reports. "It's unfortunate that someone takes a tragic incident like this and starts posting it on social media," says a lieutenant with the PD. "It's extremely disrespectful for everybody involved. But that's the day and age we live in with social media." (The Eric Garner disciplinary trial has begun.)

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