Who is Lacresha Murray? Black woman alleges she was shot 6 times by off-duty Texas cop on way to hospital
COPPERAS COVE, TEXAS: A Black woman, Lacresha Murray, has claimed she was shot six times by an off-duty cop after she confronted him for tailgating her. The alleged incident, which took place at 1500 block of Robertson Avenue in Copperas Cove on May 23, and is now being investigated by the Texas Rangers. Residents in the neighborhood filmed the incident on their mobile phones. However, none of the videos has emerged on the internet. Murray's injuries were not life-threatening.
The incident comes in the wake of the April shooting of Daunte Wright, 20, who was shot to death by Kimberly A Potter, a 25-year veteran of the force. Potter shouted, "I'll tase you" to Wright, but took out her service weapon and fired a single bullet instead. “Holy s**t, I just shot him,” she said as Wright sped away.
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What happened during the 'incident'?
According to Murray's testimony, she was out for a drive and was headed for her Copperas Cove home on Sunday, May 23 and decided to turn around and head to a hospital after she began to feel sick. "I did a U-turn in the middle of the street because I was going to go to the hospital. I started feeling sick," Murray told KWTX. She further added that after the U-turn, which was made in front of a silver truck, she and the officer took turns racing past each other, leading her to finally get out of her car and confront him.
Murray was holding her side because of the pain during the confrontation and the man, who had not identified himself as an officer yet, allegedly brandished his gun at her. "When I turned around to run back to my truck and get out of there, I just heard pop pop pop pop and all I could do was bend over and duck, " Murray said.
"He just started shooting, all I could do was lean over and he hit me six times. I'm a victim that got shot by an off-duty police officer that did not identify himself, " Murray told 25 News. Hearing the sound of gunshots, residents of the nearby houses came out and started filming the incident on their phones, which is when the shooter identified himself as a cop. "At the time, when he's looking back and seeing these guys recording, he turned around, then he took out his badge, " Murray continued. "Tell me you're a police officer? Why are you arguing with me like you're a regular person like you didn't do any of that, " she added.
A resident in the neighborhood called 911 while others tried to get the off-duty officer to halt the shooting and put his gun away. Officers responded at around 12:45 pm on May 23, after receiving multiple reports about a shooting. Murray was immediately escorted to Scott & White Medical Center in Temple with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Further information on Murray's injuries is unavailable, although she was able to walk and talk during a televised interview. The officer was not injured during the incident. It is unclear as to why he opened fire. The officer's identity has not been revealed.
According to 25 News, the victim later returned to the shooting scene in scrubs to retrieve her phone from her vehicle. "For no reason, I didn't approach him, I didn’t threaten him. I don't do anything. He just opened fire for no reason, " Murray stated while back on the scene.
Lt. Kevin Miller of the Copperas Cove PD told the Killeen Daily Herald that the cop involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave for the time being until the results of the investigation. Although, if the officer was granted paid or unpaid leave is unclear.