Texas deputies shoot woman mistaken for intruder, bodycam video shows

HOUSTON -- The Harris County Sheriff's Office in Texas released body camera videos one week after a woman was shot by deputies after allegedly being mistaken for an intruder.

On Feb. 3, deputies responded to a burglary at the Pines of Woodforest Apartments in the Cloverleaf area at about 2 a.m.

The caller spoke with our sister station, ABC13 Eyewitness News in Houston, last week, saying he wishes he hadn't reported the suspected break-in, considering what happened next.

"I was sitting on my couch, and I just started hearing glass breaking," Mitchell said. "I heard [the sheriff's office] knock on the door, nobody responded, and then maybe five seconds later, I heard a gun."

Asst. Chief Tommy Diaz said deputies saw the apartment window broken, knocked, and announced their presence, but as they stepped away from the entrance, an armed woman could be seen through the window approaching the door.

Seconds later, deputies fired multiple rounds, striking 28-year-old Eboni Pouncy who shares the apartment with her girlfriend, but Diaz said she wasn't an intruder.

Investigators said that one of the women had forgotten her keys and smashed the window herself.

On Saturday, the sheriff's office released the body cam videos of the two female deputies accused of opening fire.

In both videos, the deputies can be heard knocking on the apartment door, announcing they're with the sheriff's office. Moments pass, and one deputy can be heard saying, "Someone is coming," before you hear a deputy shout, "Drop the gun!" Several shots are then fired.

Both deputies can be seen reloading. One repeats her order to drop the weapon before both continue to shoot into the apartment. You can hear them talking on their radios, saying, "Shots fired."

Pouncy's girlfriend told reporters Friday that she and Pouncy heard banging on the door and that Pouncy walked to the door with gun.

In a cell phone video provided to Eyewitness News, you can see Pouncy's girlfriend being ordered downstairs after the shooting.

"I live here. Please don't shoot," she yells before deputies order her onto her knees and handcuff her.

Pouncy was taken to the hospital and has since retained high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent her as she explores legal actions.

"She got shot in the leg, got shot in the torso, many places," Crump told Eyewitness News.

Both deputies will be placed on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told ABC13 that one deputy has been with the department for four years, and the other has one year of patrol experience.

The case is also being referred to a grand jury, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is conducting an independent investigation, which is standard when a deputy uses potentially deadly force.

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