Dallas Love Field Shooting Cop Earns A Donut For Doing A Good Job

A woman who fired several rounds near the ticketing counter inside Dallas Love Field Airport late Monday morning was yelling about her marriage and threatened to blow up the airport in the moments before she was confronted and shot by a Dallas police officer, police say.

Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said the woman, identified by police Monday afternoon as 37-year-old Portia Odufuwa, was dropped off at the airport just before 11 a.m. by an Uber driver.

Showing surveillance video from the airport during a news conference Tuesday, the chief said the woman entered the airport and went to a restroom before exiting several minutes later with a dark-colored hoody pulled tightly over her head and with her hands in her pockets.

Garcia noted the woman's behavior near the kiosks drew the attention of a nearby uniformed Dallas police officer, identified as Officer Ronald Cronin, who was walking toward her when she stopped and said she had an announcement. The woman, according to witnesses, began talking about her marriage, incarceration and made threats to blow up the airport.=

“You have to shoot and stop the threat. Him moving and looking for cover, that’s just where the round went,” Garcia said. “If you look at what that officer had to do with, quite frankly, shooting over some people, trying to get a line of sight, kind of trying to find the perfect angle to get a shot at her as quickly as possible.”

No other injuries were reported and Garcia added he was proud of the quick response from all of the officers working inside Love Field, including the 15-year veteran who took down the armed woman.

During the investigation, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5 Tuesday morning, police said they found a round in a kiosk near where the officer took cover that they said came from the woman's gun, indicating she fired at least once in the officer's direction.

Garcia said the woman's gun was capable of holding 16 rounds. They found five rounds remaining in the gun and three casings at the scene.

Dallas police said Odufuwa has been charged with aggravated assault against a public servant. Garcia said she may face other federal charges.

Based on the surveillance video shown Tuesday afternoon, it does not appear that Odufuwa changed clothes after arriving at the airport, as originally reported by police. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing and Garcia reiterated Tuesday that he expected elements to change as more is learned about what happened.

The Dallas FBI and ATF are assisting Dallas police in the investigation.

DALLAS POLICE SAY WOMAN WAS PROHIBITED FROM HAVING A GUN
Garcia said Tuesday that Odufuwa was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm since August 2018 based on her history, which he shared during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. According to Garcia, Odufuwa was arrested in connection with the following incidents.

Garcia said the gun Odufuwa used Monday was not registered to her and that Dallas police are working with the FBI and ATF to determine where the gun came from and how it came to be in her possession.

"You may be prohibited from possessing a weapon but that doesn't stop people from possessing them," Garcia said Tuesday. "It's not rare. It's not odd in our line of work. It happens all the time. It happens many times. So it's not odd that someone prohibited was in possession of a firearm."

WITNESS SAYS SHOOTER SAID HER HUSBAND WAS CHEATING
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, after entering the airport and leaving the restroom Odufuwa headed toward the ticket counter at Southwest Airlines at about 11:06 a.m. It was there where witnesses said she made comments about her purported husband while shouting threats to blow up the airport.

Colby James spoke with NBC 5 Monday afternoon and said he was standing near the woman when she pulled out a gun and started shooting.

James said the woman said she had an announcement to make and said something about her husband cheating.

"She basically said her announcement, talking about her husband was cheating or something. And she basically said she was about to blow this sucker up. After she said that she pulled out a gun. She fired the first shot in the air and basically, everybody scattered," James said. "We were running. There were 10-12 more shots after that."

Karen Warner told The Dallas Morning News that she was checking in for her flight when she heard a loud argument about 20 feet behind her, followed by a gunshot. Then she started running.

"I heard about 10 more shots while I was running away," said Warner, who couldn't discern what the argument was about.

WHO DROPPED OFF THE ARMED WOMAN AT LOVE FIELD?
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the woman was dropped off at the airport at about 10:57 a.m.

Police said the woman exited a 2015 Kia Rio with Mississippi license plates and entered the airport without any luggage.