Fort Worth officer fires at, misses shooting suspect reaching into purse; no gun found
A Fort Worth police officer on Wednesday night fired a gun one time upon a civilian when the officer feared the woman may have been reaching for a gun inside a purse, according to the police department.
The woman, Leandra Johnson, 32, was not shot, and no gun was found inside the purse, on Johnson or at her residence, police said.
Johnson matched a 911 caller’s description of a person shooting a gun about 8:45 p.m. into trees in the 1700 block of Belshire Court in far south Fort Worth, police said. The call taker also reported hearing gunshots.
Officers tried to approach and detain Johnson, but she ran away, according to police. The officers told Johnson to stop; she allegedly continued running.
At least one officer saw Johnson begin to reach inside a purse that she was holding, and the officer fired at her, police said.
Johnson, who police said was not injured, stopped and was taken into custody. She was arrested on suspicion of evading arrest.
Officers wanted to search for a gun at Johnson’s residence. She was running toward the home when she was taken into custody, police said.
Johnson’s husband declined to leave the residence as officers were trying to execute a search warrant, and SWAT officers went there, police said. Ammunition found inside the residence matched an ejected cartridge casing found at the shots-fired scene, police said.
Johnson was being held Thursday in the Fort Worth Police Department Detention Facility, according to jail records. A defense attorney representing her in the case is not yet listed in online records.
