Houston-area sheriff’s deputies repeatedly shot at woman after mistaking her for an intruder in a friend’s home, video shows

CNN

By Raja Razek and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — Sheriff’s deputies in Houston repeatedly shot at a woman after mistaking her for an intruder inside her friend’s apartment, body camera footage released over the weekend shows.

The woman, Eboni Pouncy, was shot five times during the February 3 confrontation and her attorney, Ben Crump, has since called for the release of the two deputies’ body camera footage. Authorities say Pouncy was holding a gun when they opened fire.

Following the release of the edited footage by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday, Crump said the video is “evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force used against her.”

CNN has reached out to Crump for further comment.

On the night of the shooting, the sheriff’s deputies responded to an east Houston apartment complex, where a tenant called 911 to report someone was inside her apartment, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.

“At approximately 2:14 a.m., the first deputy arrived to the scene and cleared the apartment,” the release said. “There was no intruder located.”

A second deputy had arrived to assist, but before they left the scene a person living in a neighboring apartment “flagged the deputies down and reported that someone had broken into another nearby apartment.”

At the second apartment, the deputies noticed a front window screen had been removed, the glass was broken and the blinds were raised, the sheriff’s office said in a video statement when releasing the footage.

The footage shows a deputy knocking on the apartment door and announcing,“sheriff’s office.” Both deputies then move away from the door and stand next to the windows.

“One deputy saw a female approaching the door holding a firearm,” the release said.

“Someone is coming,” a deputy is heard saying, followed by “Gun!” Immediately, both deputies begin firing their weapons repeatedly, reload and then continue shooting.

After the deputies performed “life-saving efforts” on the woman they shot, she was taken to a local hospital, where she was in stable condition. according to the release.

“Deputies conducted a safety sweep and did not locate anyone else inside the apartment,” the release said. A handgun was found inside the apartment, which authorities believe is the one seen by the deputy before they began shooting, it added.

Investigators later discovered that Pouncy was “a guest of the apartment resident and that they had broken the window to get inside because they did not have a key with them,” the video statement said.

Earlier, the sheriff’s department said Pouncy was the apartment resident.

The two deputies have been placed on administrative leave and the sheriff’s department said it is conducting an internal investigation.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is independently investigating the incident, which is standard when a deputy uses potentially deadly force, according to the department.

Crump said the shooting “should have never happened.”

“The video shows the deputies that responded to Eboni’s friend’s house shot first and asked questions later,” Crump said in a statement. “We demand that the deputies involved be immediately held accountable for the terrible injuries that Eboni suffered due to their impulsive actions.”

The sheriff’s department requested that anyone with information relevant to the shooting contact their office.

“The investigation into this incident is ongoing by the Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit,” the release read. “All evidence gathered in the investigation will be given to the district attorney’s office for presentation to an independent grand jury.”

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