Aaron Dean, the now-former police officer charged in the 2019 fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson, has taken the stand in his murder trial. Dean is charged with fatally shooting Jefferson, a Black woman who was killed inside her Texas home in 2019.
a Black woman who was killed inside her Fort Worth, Texas, home on Oct. 12, 2019.The defense focused its questioning on what Dean learned in police academy training, specifically "shoot, don't shoot survival training."
Officers parked down the street from the home, Dean said. When asked why he didn't park in front of the house, he responded, "We don't want to give away our position to a criminal actor who might be on scene, it's for officer safety." He said he and Darch did not walk up the driveway of the home for similar reasons.
He said he believed it was "a possible burglary." He said he responded by examining "the whole structure for signs of forced entry." He continued, "I thought we had a burglar, so I stepped back, straightened up and drew my weapon and then pointed it towards the figure. I couldn't see that person's hands and we're taught the hands -- and it's what's in them that kill. We need to see the hands. We need to get people to show us our hands. We need to get control of those hands. So I drew my weapon intended to tell that person to show me their hands.
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