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An off-duty Texas cop has been charged with shooting a woman during a roadside dispute

Taylor Ardrey   

An off-duty Texas cop has been charged with shooting a woman during a roadside dispute
International2 min read
  • An off-duty cop in Texas shot a woman during a driving confrontation, authorities said.
  • Police said Eric Stoneburner, 45, shot Lacresha Murray multiple times on May 23.
  • Stoneburner turned himself in and was charged with aggravated assault.

An off-duty Texas police officer was charged with aggravated assault after shooting a woman multiple times in a roadside confrontation, according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

Eric Stoneburner, 45, turned himself in to authorities and resigned from his job at the Copperas Cove Police Department after the apparent road rage incident on May 23, KWTX reported. The shooting victim, Lacresha Murray, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Murray told authorities and media outlets that she was driving home that day when she started to feel sick, and made a U-turn to head to the hospital, according to KXXV. The Copperas Cove Police Department said that Murray was heading west and Stoneburner was traveling east when Murray began backing into a driveway.

Police said Stoneburner decided to drive straight once there was enough space in front of Murray's vehicle. But Murray "also started to move forward, causing both to pause to prevent striking one another."

After the brief pause, Stoneburner drove past Murray, but she was able to pass his car and stopped a few blocks away at an intersection, according to police. They said she got out of her vehicle to confront Stoneburner, and then he got out of his vehicle and opened fire.

"Ms. Murray then exited her vehicle and confronted Mr. Stoneburner, who also left his vehicle with his firearm pointed at Ms. Murray," the Copperas Cove Police Department said in a statement. "The course of events that followed led to Mr. Stoneburner discharging multiple rounds striking Ms. Murray multiple times."

Murray told KXXV she ran to her vehicle when Stoneburner started to shoot.

"He just started shooting. All I could do was lean over, and he hit me six times," she told the outlet.

Police said they didn't condone Stoneburner's actions.

"As a department, we cannot support Mr. Stoneburner's decision to use deadly force in the moment and manner in which he did," the department said. "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. Because the facts we have, do not show that to be true, we agree with the decision made by the Department of Public Safety."

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