Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) opened fire on a woman at her own home after they mistook her for an intruder. The woman, identified as Eboni Pouncy, was shot five times and hit in the leg and torso, her attorney, Ben Crump, told ABC News.
The February 3 incident, which was captured on body-worn video, occurred after the deputies responded to a report of a break-in at a Houston apartment. The deputies were later seen shooting through the apartment window when Pouncy made her way to the door after hearing noise from outside her home.
In the footage, the deputies are seen making their way to an upstairs apartment before a car alarm subsequently blares. One of the deputies then talks to the second officer before they proceed to open fire. That is after an officer allegedly sees Pouncy in possession of a gun inside her home, the HCSO stated. One of the officers fires shots into the home again after reloading their gun. The two deputies then go downstairs and make a shots fired report to their colleagues via radio. The HCSO also said they recovered a gun around the apartment’s entryway in the wake of the shooting.
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The Sheriff’s Office said the deputies responded to the apartment after they received a report of a break-in and noticed “the front window screen removed, broken glass and the blinds raised, near the front door.” One of the deputies announced they were at the scene after knocking on the door, ABC News reported.
During a news conference, a friend Pouncy had hung out with the night prior, said she forgot her apartment keys, adding that she told Pouncy to smash the window to enable them to get in. Pouncy’s friend, who lived in the apartment, also said they later heard the door being banged after they entered her home. She said Pouncy then went for her gun and made her way to the door before the deputies opened fire on her.
“I started seeing holes in the walls. And then I realized there was something coming through the apartment,” Pouncy told the news outlet. “I see blood everywhere.”
Pouncy also said the incident has impacted the way she cares for her 1-year-old daughter. “[My] beautiful baby girl,” she said. “She knows that I’m not able to do the things I was able to do before, and I’m not able to be as attentive with my baby. She’s only one [year old]. That’s probably the hardest part.”
Crump said the bullets did not hit Pouncy’s vital organs, though the long-term effects of her gunshot wounds haven’t been established at the moment, per ABC News. The attorney said the shooting has left Pouncy traumatized.
“We all know that every American citizen right now is keenly aware of their Second Amendment rights and their rights to bear arms,” Crump said. “Why is it a presumption that we don’t have a right to the Second Amendment? This reminds you of the tragic killing of Breonna Taylor, where her boyfriend was a law-abiding gun-registered citizen. And yet, the police busted in their front door, shooting and killing Breonna.”
An investigation into the incident has been launched, and the deputies involved in the shooting have since been placed on administrative leave.
“This newly-released body cam footage is evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force used against her,” Crump said in a statement on February 12. “We demand that the deputies involved be immediately held accountable for the terrible injuries.”
“The shooting of Eboni Pouncy should have never happened,” Crump added. “The video shows the deputies that responded to Eboni’s friend’s house shot first and asked questions later. It is concerningly clear by the video and Eboni’s injuries that deputies were not justified in shooting her five times.”
