Baytown, Texas: An officer fires and kills a woman hearing a video claiming to be pregnant

Baytown, Texas – A police officer in the city of Houston shot and killed a woman during an altercation Monday in an apartment complex, authorities said. The incident was captured on social media and aired overnight, reports KHOU-TV, affiliated with CBS Houston. In the video, we hear the woman screaming several times before being killed: I'm pregnant.

Lieutenant Steve Dorris of the Baytown Police Department said that an officer on patrol met with a 45-year-old woman with whom he had already met. He knew that the woman had pending warrants, so he approached her to stop him.

Dorris said that a fight had begun and that the officer had been forced to use his Taser. But while he was trying to detain the woman, she managed to take control of the stun gun and used it on the officer, who then fired several shots, hitting the woman at least once.

The officer tried to help the woman, but she was pronounced dead at the scene, Dorris added.

The witness video obtained by KHOU shows the woman on the ground when about five shots can be heard. KHOU chose not to show the video, at least for the moment, because it is very graphic and it is difficult to know who recorded it.

An angry woman tweeted that the Taser officer had twice hit the unarmed woman and shot her five times while she was on the ground. Another tweeted that a less lethal force would have sufficed and claimed that the woman had mental problems.

The names of the woman and the officer were not disclosed. Dorris said the officer is a veteran of the 11-year-old police force.

"It's the first time the officer has been killed," said Dorris, adding that he was not seriously injured.

Dorris said that he thought the officer was carrying a camera for the body, but the video will not be released immediately, the investigation continuing.

Asked about the video posted on Snapchat and Facebook Messenger, Norris said the detectives wanted to talk to the witness who had recorded it.

"It's unfortunate that someone takes such an incident and starts to publish it on social networks," Norris said. "It's extremely disrespectful to everyone involved – but it's the day and age we live with social media."