Woman who fired gun in Dallas Love Field airport found not guilty by reason of insanity
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Police shoot armed woman at Dallas Love Field
An armed woman who was dropped off at Dallas Love Field Airport was wounded by a police officer after she opened fire inside the airport Monday morning, the Dallas police chief said. The 37-year-old woman, who was not identified, has been taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. No other injuries have been reported.
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A woman who fired a handgun inside Dallas Love Field and threatened to “blow up” the airport last summer was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a trial last week, according to court records.
The defendant, Portia Odufuwa, waived her right to a jury and the verdict was decided on Aug. 14 by Dallas County 291st District Judge Stephanie Huff.
The judge ordered that Odufuwa be committed to the maximum security unit of North Texas State Hospital’s Vernon Campus for 30 days, at which time a report will be filed with the court about her current mental condition, according to the judgment document.
Odufuwa was indicted in October on a charge of aggravated assault against a public servant following the shooting on July 26, 2022. She was accused of firing her gun in the air and toward an officer inside the airport, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Odufuwa was wounded in the leg when the officer returned fire. No one else was injured in the shooting.
After she was dropped off at the airport on the morning of the shooting, Odufuwa, then 37, walked by a Southwest Airlines ticket counter and entered a bathroom, where she changed clothes and came out wearing a hooded sweatshirt, according to police accounts and surveillance video.
Odufuwa said she had an announcement to make and began rambling about incarceration and her “husband,” claiming she was married to rapper Chris Brown, police said. She also shouted, “I am going to blow this [expletive] up,” according to the affidavit.
Odufuwa then pulled out her gun and fired several times toward the ceiling in the baggage check-in area and then toward an officer who had taken cover behind a ticket kiosk, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a news conference at the time.
Travelers and employees were evacuated from Love Field and flight delays and cancellations affected thousands of passengers.
This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 10:48 AM.
