This is really tough. I fully support law enforcement and the individual right to protect one’s home. If what I read is fact, the officer didn’t announce and the young woman got her gun, just as I would have, to prepare to defend her nephew and herself. I have this feeling that the officer made a mistake, maybe due to inadequate training, maybe something else. Sad.
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That is exactly the feeling I got when I read about this. It’s tragic that someone lost their life. I feel horrific for the neighbor that asked for the wellness check. 
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I am just tired of this. I’m tired of the optics of it. I’m tired of the blame game, the excuses, & the justifications. I doubt anything meaningful will come from this. The officer being acquitted or the officer being sentenced to whatever amount of time means absolutely nothing. Something has to change. 
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First…did the caller know the woman? Had she tried calling her first? I would have just watched the situation for awhile to see if I saw or heard anything that sounded like someone in trouble before calling police. If I glimpsed someone sneaking around my yard, I would call out ‘who’s out there’ first, and, if no answer call 911 and arm myself…maybe in reverse order. I would be relieved to know it was a cop and not a criminal. There has to be a better way on calls like this where there is no evidence anything is wrong. Like maybe go knock on the door and call out ‘anyone home?’ first. In my meter reader days, we would keep an eye out for anyone appearing and loudly call out ‘meter reader’ so they would know who it was. It’s a tough situation for the officer to be in since so many of them are being murdered just doing their job. I would be annoyed at a neighbor who called them without good reason.
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I think the neighbor had good intentions and was trying to do the right thing. Police do sometimes make HORRIBLE mistakes and then have to deal with the consequences. However, 99% of the time, probably more, they perform their duties well. Right now, in this super charged political climate, they are under the microscope especially when the media can play the race card. This one was bad but I still stand with law enforcement.
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Race is relevant in this case as this particular department has had numerous high profile cases of racial bias and racist actions with regards to black and brown citizens.
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My question is, “What are we actually supposed to learn from this?” That we are not to have our front door open at night? That we are not to be standing near a window, inside our home, when the police show up? That we are not to have a firearm in our home where an officer can see it through the window? What are we supposed to learn? I don’t think there’s anything that we, as law-abiding citizens, exercising our right to have a firearm in our home for protection, can learn from this. Instead, the ones who need to be trained and need to learn are the police officers! This officer should never have done what he did. This shows a lack of proper dynamic-critical-incident training of the officers for the Fort Worth Police Department.
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I took the lesson for sure. I always try to avoid mistakes made by others.
This one is so obvious: you don’t make yourself a target with pistol, even at your own home.
This one also confirmed what I had been told already - “use blinds, this way you see and are not been seen”.
Now I know that Police can make such big mistakes, I’ve always trusted, they are gonna to identify themselves.
These are really valuable information I’ve discussed with my Family.
I didn’t start this thread to discuss our rights. Just wanted to see other’s opinion. Unfortunately this accident was so bad that turned into racial case, leaving home security matters behind.
However I’ve really enjoyed all answers.
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I would start with retraining the police and it would also require a hard look at the laws relating to police procedure.
Due to all the civil rights lawsuits cops are less and less able to treat people with decency and respect.
We can all recognize an obvious threat when we see it and cops spend their careers honing those senses.
When they first make contact with someone probably 90% of the time they know right off if that person poses a potential threat of not just based on body language and attitude but if they don’t treat everyone equally they stand a good chance of being sued. As a result they tend to treat everyone as not just a potential threat but as a likely threat so good people are treated virtually the same as a known violent criminal, drug dealer etc.
We’ve largely taken away their ability to use their best judgement in the name of political correctness and “Equal Treatment Under Law”.
Another good place to start would be more police/community interactions that are of a purely positive nature at public events in something of a “get to know your local cops” type events.
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I think judgment has to be reserved while the incident is being investigated. Until all of the facts are available, it is impossible to tell what happened and why it happened. I know the body cam video will be scrutinized at many levels, even showing it frame by frame.
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Now it has come out that her son, who was in the room with her, pulled a weapon because she was startled at the sound of someone at the door. My question is, why didn’t she shout and ask who was at the door? That would have given the officer time to identify himself and she could have gone to see what was going on. All in all, potentially avoiding this tragedy. Doesn’t sound to me like it was handled correctly on her part.
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That’s a good example of how they should be done.
Apparently in this case they didn’t even bother ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door before going prowling around the house.
Honestly, the officers were lucky in this case because the only person there with a lawful use of deadly force was the homeowner.
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The officer is supposed to identify themselves from the get go.
As a homeowner who suspects a prowler is trying to get into your home you definitely don’t want to call out giving them your location.
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Mike as I read this one the cop is going to be found guilty for some form of murder, manslaughter, or maybe negligent homicide.
The only person there with a lawful use of deadly force was the homeowner.
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Where did you find that published? What I’ve found published pretty consistently is that it was her nephew she was babysitting, and that she herself got a pistol from her purse at the sound of someone in her yard.
Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, whom she was babysitting, late at night when a neighbor noticed the front door of the house ajar. The concerned neighbor called the Fort Worth police department’s nonemergency line to request a welfare check. Jefferson’s nephew told authorities that she had taken a handgun from her purse when she heard noises outside and pointed it toward the window, according to an arrest warrant released on Tuesday.
You are correct Zee, my mistake. It was her nephew that was in the house with her. I knew there was someone in the house with her but couldn’t remember exactly who it was.
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Mike I’ve never been a police officer but I’ve learned from my career in teaching that those who have never walked a mile in my shoes often make rash judgments and offer simplified solutions that don’t really address the issue. Your advice to wait for all the facts is the best advice. TY.
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The whole thing is pretty horrific, I cant imagine what that young man is suffering. Or the neighbor who was just trying to do the right thing. 
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Imagine if the neighbor had just acted like a neighbor and gone over to knock/ring and see if everyone was OK?
Around here we’d only involve the police if we knew something was seriously wrong.
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I hear that.
And yet, even my subdivision/community, there is a sense of distance between neighbors; the feeling it might be dangerous to future personal sanity to establish “lite communal civilities” … I’m certain it is due to the ‘need’ in today’s work environment that people have to move, much like we did every couple of years for military postings. ( …in the military, for the adults, that was envisioned as a way of building relationships verse causing intense separation.)
The idea we have extended communities due to the internet can fill most of the needs for socialization. But it also detracts from a need to have local relationships which mean deep bonds to the individuals and families for events which occur in the locality.
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