Texas cop arrested after shooting woman ‘multiple times’ in off-duty driving dispute
A Texas police officer accused of shooting a woman “multiple times” during an off-duty driving dispute has been arrested, officials say.
Copperas Cove police officer Eric Stoneburner was charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of Lacresha Murray, who survived her injuries. Stoneburner resigned from the police department before turning himself in to authorities, officials say. Texas Rangers investigated the case.
“As a department, we cannot support Mr. Stoneburner’s decision to use deadly force in the moment and manner in which he did,” Copperas Cove Police Chief Eddie Wilson said in a statement Friday. “The law, and our department policies, limit the use of deadly force to situations when an officer reasonably believes that he or a third person are in imminent and immediate danger of death or serious bodily injury. “
On Sunday, Murray told KXXV she was shot six times by Stoneburner when she exited her truck to confront him about his driving. Murray said she made a U-turn to go to the hospital after suddenly feeling ill on her way home, the news outlet reported.
According to police, Murray was driving west on a residential street and Stoneburner was going east when she turned her vehicle across two lanes and reversed into a driveway. Stoneburner stopped as Murray backed up then started to pass her truck, police say.
As he drove by, Murray pulled forward and both stopped to prevent hitting each other. Stoneburner then proceeded east, police say. Murray passed Stoneburner a short distance later, “almost striking” his vehicle, police say.
At an intersection, Murray stopped, got out of the truck and confronted Stoneburner. Murray told KWWV she stopped because he was tailgating.
Stoneburner left his vehicle armed with a gun and pointed it at Murray, shooting her “multiple times,” police say. Murray told KWTX she was returning to her truck after seeing the gun when she was shot.
“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 told KWTX.
Police said a video is “being held as evidence” in the case but didn’t specify whether it shows the shooting.
“We have worked hard to build legitimacy and trust within our community and will work just as hard to rebuild any trust lost as a result of this event,” Wilson said. “We hope that our citizens do not judge us based solely on this event, but instead on how we handled this event.”
Copperas Cove is a city of about 32,000 in Central Texas, 70 miles north of Austin.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Texas cop arrested after shooting woman ‘multiple times’ in off-duty driving dispute."