New body camera footage shows Harris County Sherrif’s Office deputies in Houston Texas firing off multiple shots through a woman’s window while responding to a reported break-in.
Eboni Pouncy, 28, was a friend of the woman who lived at the apartment and sustained a total of 5 gunshot wounds. According local news outlets, Pouncy’s friend reportedly had forgotten her keys to her apartment. The friend stated during a new conference last Friday that she told Pouncy to break the window so they could get inside her home and then once they were inside for about 20 minutes that’s when they heard a loud banging on the door, Pouncy’s friend said. Pouncy allegedly grabbed her gun and went to the door before she was fired upon by the deputies, according to the friend.
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Pouncy’s attorney Ben Crump spoke with ABC News and said his client was shot five times in the torso and legs and is lucky to still be alive today. “This newly-released body cam footage is evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force used against her,” Crump told ABC News in a statement Monday. “We demand that the deputies involved be immediately held accountable for the terrible injuries.”
“The shooting of Eboni Pouncy should have never happened,” Crump’s statement continued. “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.”
Since the incident, both officers have been placed on administrative leave, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s department and local district attorney are investigating, and the case is being referred to a grand jury.
In cell phone video acquired by KTRK, an ABC-owned station, officers can be heard directing Pouncy’s friend to come down the stairs after the shooting.
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“I live here. Please don’t shoot,” she responds before officers order her to the ground and handcuff her.
Pouncy was taken to the hospital by paramedics for her injuries.