DALLAS (AP) — A woman accused of firing several gunshots inside a Dallas airport faces a charge of aggravated assault of a public servant because she allegedly fired one round toward a police officer, according to an arrest warrant.
The officer shot and wounded Portia Odufuwa, who was taken to a hospital after Monday’s shooting at Dallas’ Love Field Airport.
This July 25, 2022, booking photo provided by the Dallas County Jail shows Portia Odufuwa. Authorities say Odufuwa fired several gunshots, apparently at the ceiling, inside of Dallas’ Love Field Airport on Monday, July 25, 2002, before an officer shot and wounded her. (Dallas County Jail via AP)
Odufuwa, who had no luggage, entered the ticketing area, then went into a restroom, emerging with her hands in the pockets of a hooded sweatshirt, according to the arrest warrant. She then went toward a ticket counter and witnesses reported hearing a disturbance before she shouted, “I’m going to blow this (obscenity) up!” and pulled a handgun.
She fired two rounds in the ceiling and as she was confronted by a police officer, she fired in his direction, the arrest warrant said. The officer was not struck.
Police were set to give a Tuesday afternoon news conference on the shooting. Jail records do not list an attorney who is representing her on the charge.
Dallas police Chief Eddie Garcia has said Odufuwa was shot in her “lower extremities.” He said no one else was injured.
Airport operations at Love Field, one of the Dallas-Fort Worth-area’s two major airports, were suspended for hours and dozens of flights were canceled.
Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting, but Odufuwa has been arrested several times in recent years and has been found incompetent for trial more than once.
Dallas police watch over the ticketing hall at Dallas Love Field Airport on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in Dallas, where a shooting occurred the day before. The A woman accused of firing several gunshots inside the airport faces a charge of aggravated assault of a public servant because she allegedly fired one round toward a police officer, according to an arrest warrant. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
A judge last year found her incompetent to stand trial after she was charged with making a false report, court records show. The judge found that she wasn’t a danger to others and referred her to outpatient mental health services.
In that case, she was accused of pulling a fire alarm at a hotel after the clerk refused to extend her stay, The Dallas Morning News reported, citing police. Records show the charge was dismissed.
In 2019, she was found incompetent to stand trial after she was accused of robbing a bank in the Dallas suburb of Wylie. She underwent treatment, and court records show the case was eventually dismissed.
Also that year, she was arrested for arson after telling a police officer who had responded to a house fire in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite that she started it and was “God’s prophet,” according to a police report. She also told police she was married to singer Chris Brown, the police report said. The Dallas County district attorney’s office said that charge was rejected for lack of scientific evidence to support a conviction.
On Monday at the airport, she also was heard making comments about Brown, according to the arrest warrant.
