Sheriff's deputies shoot a woman at a friend's home in Houston, authorities say

A Houston woman was shot in her friend's apartment this month by sheriff's deputies responding to a report of a burglary and shot repeatedly into the home, according to a statement And body camera footage released by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Early on Feb. 3, the woman, Eboni Pouncy, and her friend smashed a window to get in after forgetting the house key, according to a rack released last week by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Ms. Pouncy.

The women were startled when, after 2am, officers started banging on the door, Mr Crump said. Fearing an intruder, Ms Pouncy reached for her legally registered firearm and was struck by five bullets shortly afterwards, he said.

Medical responders took Ms. Pouncy to a hospital for treatment, the sheriff's office said. Although the nature of her injuries was unclear, Mr Crump said in his statement that she was recovering.

According to the Harris County Sheriff's OfficeThe two officers responded to a report of an intruder at an apartment on the city's east side around 2:10 a.m. but found no one inside. Shortly afterwards, a resident of a neighboring apartment told officers that someone had broken into another apartment on the second floor, the sheriff's office said. When officers went to investigate the break-in, they found the front window screen had been removed, broken glass and the blinds on the front door had been raised, the sheriff's office said.

The footage, retrieved from the officers' body-worn cameras and released Saturday, shows the two officers, who appear to be women, climbing the stairs of the apartment, knocking on the front door and then retreating a few feet away. One of the officers says she sees someone coming and screams, and then both officers start shooting repeatedly through the glass windows. Both reload their weapons and continue firing several times.

The sheriff's office is investigating the shooting and has placed both officers involved on administrative leave. No criminal charges have been filed. The Harris County District Attorney's Office is also investigating the shooting, a standard practice in which law enforcement officers use potentially deadly force.

Neither the sheriff's office nor the district attorney could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Laronda Berry, Ms. Pouncy's resident and friend, said in an interview On Friday she told Mrs Pouncy she had to break the window and they had only been inside for 20 minutes when they heard “loud banging” on the door. “The only crime committed that day was committed by the police,” she said.

Mr. Crump — who has been a longtime attorney for the families of black people killed by law enforcement officers for more than two decades — said the episode was reminiscent of the case of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020 during a botched raid on her apartment.

In a statement on social media On Monday, he said the shooting “should never have happened, and this newly released bodycam footage is evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force used against her.”

The footage, he added, showed that the deputies “shot first and asked questions later.”