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A white police officer fired through the window of a black woman's home early Saturday and killed her after responding to a call that a neighbor placed about an open front door, authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, say.

Around 2:25 a.m., officers responded to an "open structure call" made by a neighbor to the police department's nonemergency number. Inside the home, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, and her 8-year-old nephew were playing video games.

Body camera footage released by the police shows the officer outside the home, looking into Jefferson's bedroom window and shouting, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" before firing a single bullet that killed Jefferson.

Kyev Tatum, a pastor and community activist who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, told NPR that the neighbor who called the police was worried about the welfare of Jefferson. He said Jefferson may have had her front door open for a reason.

"This was probably one of the first days that we had cool weather in Fort Worth. This was a cool evening. I'm sure she allowed the door to be open to air out the house, to get some fresh air in the house," Tatum said.

The concerned neighbor, James Smith, told local television station WFAA that he never intended for an aggressive law enforcement response.

"No domestic violence, no arguing," he said. "Nothing that they should have been concerned with, as far as them coming with guns drawn to my neighbor's house," Smith said. "There wasn't any reason for a gunshot that I know of," he said. "She wasn't a threat."


James Smith said he saw the lights on and front doors open at his neighbor’s home overnight. He said he called a non emergency number for a wellness check. Smith said minutes later he heard a gunshot. @wfaa

Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt said Jefferson was a pre-medicine graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and was working at the time in pharmaceutical equipment sales.

"Her mom had recently gotten very sick, so she was home taking care of the house and loving her life," Merritt said.

According to a police news release, when the officer was searching the perimeter of Jefferson's house, the officer noticed a person inside and standing near the window, which police say was perceived as a threat. That is when the officer drew his weapon, ordered Jefferson's hands up and shot.

Authorities say that when they entered Jefferson's home, a gun was recovered from the bedroom — the area where police shot and where Jefferson was pronounced dead. Officials did not say whether Jefferson was holding a weapon at the time the officer fired at her.

Tatum said Jefferson's having a weapon should not have justified the use of deadly force.

"If you hear some noise in your backyard early in the morning when you're with your 8-year-old nephew, well of course anyone in their right mind is going to try to protect themselves and others, especially a child," Tatum said. "But the officer reacted so quickly and never identified himself as a police officer."

What if she shot the cop thinking he was about to break in. She would be in jail on murder charges.

The white Fort Worth police officer accused of shooting a black woman inside her home over the weekend has resigned, Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus announced Monday.

Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was gunned down early Saturday by an officer who'd been summoned to her Fort Worth home to conduct a welfare check by a neighbor who reported seeing Jefferson's front door open. Bodycam footage released by police showed two officers canvassing the property before one shouted, "put your hands up, show me your hands," and fired through a window.

Kraus on Monday identified the officer involved in the shooting as Aaron Dean. He said Dean was placed on detached duty and stripped of his badge and firearm after he was served with his written administrative complaint yesterday.