New video shows woman opening fire at Dallas airport before police officer shot her

Shooter identified as 37-year-old Portia Odufuwa has been held by police multiple times in past

Dallas police on Tuesday released the edited surveillance and body camera footage of a woman opening fire at the Dallas Love Field Airport before she was shot by an officer.

In the video, alleged shooter Portia Odufuwa, 37, could be seen walking around the airport in a black hoodie near the ticket kiosk.

The woman, before pulling out the gun, said she had an announcement to make.

“Witnesses say that the woman started to ramble, talking about her marriage, incarceration and that she was going to blow up the airport, and then pulls a handgun from her sweatshirt,” said Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia in a news conference.

At 11.06am, the suspect fired multiple rounds at the ceiling, said the officer. Ronald Cronin, a Dallas police veteran with 15 years of experience with the forces, and who was present at the spot, gave a verbal command to the shooter to drop the weapon.

The passengers could be seen running to safety, dropping behind their luggage, and some taking cover behind the booth as the officer and the suspect pointed their weapons at each other.

Moments later, she could be seen hitting the ground, after apparently being shot and wounded by the officer.

“At 11.06 and 50 seconds, Odufuwa pointed her gun at officer Cronin and innocent bystanders. At 11.06 and 51 seconds, officer Cronin took cover behind ticket kiosk and fired from the department-issued weapon striking the suspect multiple times,” said Mr Garcia.

Dallas police Chief Eddie García, right, and FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno watch surveillance footage of police officers responding to the scene of a shooting at Dallas Love Field airport during a press conference, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 (AP)

He added that Mr Cronin held his position and soon other Dallas police officers arrived to take the suspect into custody. They provided her with first aid and called the Dallas fire rescue for assistance, he said.

“Odufuwa was taken to local hospital for treatment, where she underwent surgery for her injuries,” he said.

While probing the scene, the law enforcement officers found rounds indicating she had fired shots at Mr Cronin.

Her weapon had “a capacity of 15+1. She had five left in the magazine and three casings were at the scene. The weapon was not registered to her”.

Dallas police watch over the ticketing hall at Dallas Love Field Airport on Tuesday, 26 July 2022, in Dallas (AP)

Praising the officer for quick action, Mr Garcia told reporters he was “very proud of him” and would have given him a “medal right here in front of all of you today”.

During the shooting, Ms Odufuwa was also heard making comments about singer Chris Brown, according to the arrest warrant.

Witness Colby James, 33, told NBC News that she claimed “her husband was cheating and her husband was Chris Brown”.

“I think she was delusional,” he said.

The accused has been arrested several times in recent years and has also been found incompetent for trial more than once, reported the Associated Press.

In 2021, a judge found her incompetent to stand trial after she was booked for making a false report, show the court records. The judge held that she was not a danger to others, as he referred her to outpatient mental health services.

In another case in 2019, she was found incompetent to stand trial after being accused of robbing a bank in the Dallas suburb of Wylie. The court records of the case were eventually dismissed as she underwent treatment.

The same year she was arrested for arson after she told the police responding to a house fire that she started it and that she was “God’s prophet”.

The shooter also told the police that she was married to Brown, the police report said. The Dallas County district attorney’s office said the charge was rejected for lack of scientific evidence to support a conviction.

Additional reporting from the wires