Community outraged after a woman was killed by an officer in Baytown
BAYTOWN, Texas - A Baytown police officer is under fire for shooting a woman and killing her. This comes after they say she grabbed the officer’s weapon and used it on him.
While they wait for the results of the investigation, family and friends of Pamela Turner gathered in prayer, leaving behind flowers and candles for the 44-year-old mother of two and grandmother.
She was a former nurse, who according to her family was suffering from a mental Illness.
“Sweetest woman I’ve ever known, and according to everybody else, sweetest person they’ve ever known,” says her stepdaughter, Aushanta Ruben.
Turner’s last moments alive were caught on cellphone video. She was approached by a Baytown police officer while she was walking her dog Monday night.
She had two warrants out for her arrest. According to Baytown police, Turner struggled, forcing the officer to use his taser, but it wasn’t effective.
They say Turner managed to grab the officer’s taser and use it against him. That’s when the deadly shots were fired.
We asked the Baytown Police Department if the shooting was necessary. We were told that officers shoot until there is no longer a threat present, but in regards to this case, the investigation needs to find if five shots being fired were necessary.
Members from Black Lives Matter Houston protested out front of the Baytown Police Department, wanting questions answered since the police issued a statement saying Turner was known to them.
Ashton P. Woods of Black Lives Matter Houston tells us, “If she had in fact been dealing with mental illness or mental disability, he would have had a backup officer with him , preferably a female, and he would’ve had someone there who was equipped to handle someone dealing with mental illnesses.
That didn’t happen, so if that was a mental illness happening, and if Baytown PD said what they said, things are not adding up here.“
Susan Cummings is a Baytown resident, who also came out to protest.
“We can’t let these things be silence. We can’t not say something. This is my home, and I don’t want to see anybody shot five times laying down on the ground after they have not been doing anything wrong,“ she said.
The video tells only part of the story, now it’s investigators' jobs to try to tell the rest.
Lieutenant Steve Dorris of the Baytown Police Department says, “Even more important, it is tragic for the family of the deceased. They lost a loved one, and that fact is not lost on us, we understand that, and we get that.“
Baytown police are saying that they are conducting a thorough investigation along side with the district attorney’s office.No word yet if the officer will face disciplinary action. Right now he is on paid administrative leave.