DALLAS — Dallas police Chief Eddie García said Tuesday the woman accused of opening fire inside a terminal at Dallas Love Field airport has been prohibited from owning a firearm for years.
At a news conference at police headquarters, García said the gun Portia Odufuwa, 37, used Monday was not registered under her name, and added that she tried to buy a gun in Texas at least two times since 2016 but was denied because of an outstanding traffic warrant out of New Mexico.
Odufuwa was dropped off at the airport around 11 a.m. Monday by an Uber driver, then went inside a bathroom and came out wearing a hoodie. García said although the Uber driver noticed something “peculiar” about Odufuwa, the driver will not be involved in the investigation.
Odufuwa then approached the Southwest Airlines ticket counter where witnesses overheard her making comments about her “husband,” who she said is celebrity rapper Chris Brown.
García said she declared she needed to make an announcement and, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News, shouted “I am going to blow this (expletive) up.”
Officer Ronald Cronin, a 15-year veteran of the department, told to drop her weapon as the affidavit says she pointed her gun at him. Cronin then fired at Odufuwa eight or nine times, striking her multiple times in her “lower extremities,” police said. She was taken into custody and then to the hospital, where she was stable as of Monday afternoon.
“The goal is to neutralize a threat,” García said. “You have to shoot to stop the threat.”
Police allege in the affidavit that Odufuwa fired at least one round toward the kiosk where the officer was taking cover. At the news conference Tuesday, García said Odufuwa fired into the air three times, but a department spokeswoman later clarified she fired twice into the air and once toward Cronin.
No one else was injured, police said.
Odufuwa has a history of arrests, in some cases on charges that were dismissed after she was found incompetent to stand trial, according to court records.
An arson case, the most serious of those against her, stemmed from an incident in Mesquite in October 2019, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit. Officers found Odufuwa watching a house she previously lived in burn.
Odufuwa told police she set the house on fire and, when asked why, the affidavit said she responded, “I am God’s prophet, and I need an attorney, but I’m basically letting you all know that I am the cause of this fire.”
It was unclear Monday what mental health diagnoses Odufuwa had that led to her being found incompetent to stand trial.
Other charges against her included robbery, criminal trespass and false reporting — all filed in cities across North Texas over the past several years.
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