ATLANTA – The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has released dashcam video of a fatal officer-involved shooting of a woman that happened last year.
Alexia Christian was shot and killed in the back of an Atlanta police car in April 2015.
Police say Christian was armed with a gun she stole from a truck and that she started firing at officers before she was shot and killed.
The footage released does not show the backseat of the car where the shooting happened.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said APD officers loosened Christian’s handcuffs before the shooting, not knowing she had a gun.
Howard said the miscommunication started early when a 911 dispatcher failed to relay the information Christian was armed.
"So when the Atlanta Police officers searched the truck and they discovered Christian, they never considered the fact that she might have been armed because of a gun in the truck," Howard said.
Howard says the 911 operator was disciplined for not telling police Christian had a gun. He said it’s now up to APD if they want to discipline the officers for not searching Christian ahead of time.
The district attorney declined to press charges against the officer.
Christian's mother, Felicia, who has expressed displeasure at the fact that the GBI wasn't called in to investigate the incident, issued a statement Tuesday saying, "The handling of this case by Atlanta Police Department has been traumatizing to my family. The lack of transparency, professionalism, and compassion has been heartbreaking. We will continue lifting up my daughter's memory as we forever deal with her loss."
Atlanta Police Chief George Turner has previously stated that Alexia Christian had a history of escaping handcuffs. 11Alive has also learned that she had a history of crime, with a string of arrests between 2006 and 2015 on charges ranging from theft and robbery to aggravated assault.
