By Maggie Prosser and Krista M. Torralva
The family of the woman shot by a Dallas police officer after she opened fire inside Love Field airport said Sunday that neither police nor the hospital have updated them about her medical condition since the shooting almost a week ago.
Portia Odufuwa, 37, was shot multiple times about 11 a.m. July 25 in her “lower extremities” after police allege she fired into the airport’s ceiling and at the officer. She was taken to a hospital, where she underwent surgery, police said.
Portia Timmons, Odufuwa’s mother, told The Dallas Morning News in a text message that she does not know her daughter’s “true condition.”
Odufuwa’s sibling, Ingrid Jackson, said in text messages that the hospital has not communicated with the family about her care.
“The answer we keep receiving is vague,” Jackson said.
Dallas police said Odufuwa was stable as of Sunday afternoon, but they did not release further details. Officials at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Odufuwa was taken after she was shot, could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Odufuwa faces a charge of aggravated assault against a public servant in connection with the shooting. No bond or jail information was available Sunday. Her family said she does not yet have an attorney.
Police said Odufuwa was dropped off at the airport and walked into a nearby bathroom. She emerged and approached the Southwest Airlines ticket counter where witnesses overheard her making comments about her “husband,” who she said is celebrity singer Chris Brown.
Dallas police Chief Eddie García said at a news conference Odufuwa declared she needed to make an announcement. According to an arrest-warrant affidavit, she then shouted “I am going to blow this [expletive] up.”
“The family are aware of the charges pending,” Timmons’ statement said. “However, we will [sic] like to make it clear that Portia Odufuwa has support from her family.”
Odufuwa has a history of arrests and some charges against her were dismissed after she was found incompetent to stand trial, according to court records.
It is unclear what mental health diagnoses Odufuwa had that led to her being found incompetent, but Timmons’ previously wrote on an application for a protective order in September 2020 that Odufuwa wasn’t taking her medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Timmons wrote at the time that she feared for her life.
A judge in Collin County did not grant the protective order. It was not clear what evidence was presented other than the application.
“Portia … has struggle [sic] with this mental condition over a period of time,” Jackson said in a text message. “We have ask [sic] the courts several times for help. Even ask [sic] for the courts to allow us to be over her so we can monitor Portia but the courts gave us … push back.”
In a 2019 Mesquite arson case, officers found Odufuwa watching a house she previously lived in burn. Odufuwa told police she set the house on fire, saying, “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,” according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said last week his office asked a judge to dismiss the case because there was no scientific evidence connecting her to the fire.
Odufuwa was accused of robbing a bank in Wylie in April 2019. She was found incompetent to stand trial and underwent both inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment. The case was eventually dismissed, court records show.
Defendants who are found incompetent, meaning they can not assist in their own defense or identify participants in the courtroom such as the judge, may undergo counseling and sometimes medication to restore them to competency.
Other charges against her over the past several years include criminal trespass and false reporting. She was found incompetent in the false reporting case, according to court records.
