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Dallas Love Field shooting video shows chaos as woman opened fire inside airport

Dallas police Chief Eddie Garcia walked media through the footage, which showed a woman in a hoodie and a mask walk to an area near the Southwest ticket counter.

DALLAS — Editor's note: This story has been updated to add that the suspect was booked into Dallas County Jail on Aug. 16, 2022.

Police released surveillance video of the shooting at Dallas Love Field airport, showing a chaotic, tense scene as a woman fired a gun, travelers took cover and a officer returned fire.

Dallas police Chief Eddie Garcia walked media through the footage, which was edited by police and did not include audio. 

The video showed a woman in a hoodie and a mask walk to an area near the Southwest ticket counter.

Several dozen people were standing in the area with their suitcases at ticket kiosks. The area is adjacent to the security checkpoint at Love Field.

The video highlighted the suspect - identified by police as Portia Odufuwa - and a Dallas police officer.

The suspect then raised a gun into the air and fired three shots in the air, according to Garcia. The travelers in the area scattered and took cover; the officer took a position behind a ticket kiosk.

The suspect then pointed toward the officer; police said in an affidavit that she fired toward the officer, according to evidence of rounds collected at the scene.

The officer returned fire and the suspect went down and began to crawl, before coming to a stop.

The suspect was shot in an area between two ticket counters; a Southwest employee to the suspect's left can be seen running away behind the counter.

At least one traveler could be seen huddling behind a kiosk between the officer and the suspect.

The suspect appeared to keep moving her legs on the ground but she was staying in the same area. Other travelers in the area continued to retreat and try to take cover.

A second officer then approached where the first officer was standing, both of them pointing their weapons at the suspect. More officers arrived at the scene. 

The suspect was then taken into custody and taken to a hospital for treatment.

About 14 seconds elapsed from the time the suspect raised her arm in the air to the time the officer returned fire and put her down, shooting her in the lower part of her body.

No other injuries were reported during the incident.

Odufuwa was eventually released from the hospital on Aug. 16 and taken to Dallas County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault against a public servant.

An affidavit shed more light on the incident, saying Odufuwa threatened to blow up the airport before firing two shots into the ceiling. Police also later found a round "with a trajectory that was located in the kiosk near where" the officer was taking cover, "confirming that she was shooting at the officer during the encounter," the affidavit said.

Shortly after the woman fired her weapon, the officer, who was not injured, returned several shots, causing the woman to fall to the ground as she was shot in the lower body.

It was not initially clear where the woman was aiming with her shots, or what her motive might have been, Garcia said, noting that the woman's shots did not strike anyone else in the airport.

The shooting forced airport security officials to evacuate the entire airport and re-screen everyone. The incident led to hundreds of delays of Southwest flights, impacting more than 30,000 passengers, as Love Field operations were halted for hours.

Dallas police asked the public for anyone else who might have cell phone video of the shooting. Police gave a link to where people can upload their videos here.

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