Dallas airport shooting suspect had multiple priors convictions and mental health concerns

The woman suspected of opening fire at the Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas Monday morning has been identified as Portia Odufuwa, 37, and had previously been arrested for a 2019 bank robbery in Wylie, Tex.

Oduwufa, who was 34 at the time, had been accused of handing a teller at a Bank of America a note demanding money, but the charges were later dropped. FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that a court had ordered an examination into her mental competency to stand trial two weeks before the dismissal.

According to court records, Odufuwa was determined to be incompetent to stand trial and was ordered to a mental health program but never finished, for reasons unknown.

Odufuwa was most recently arrested in 2021 for making a false report of a fire and has also been arrested on charges of arson. She has documented mental health evaluations following her arrests.

In the affidavit from a 2019 arson case, Odofuwa reportedly told police she was a "prophet of God."

Dallas police said Monday that Odufuwa had been dropped off at the airport, entered the terminal around 11 am then "went inside a women’s restroom and a short time later comes out into the ticket counter area and fires a weapon several times."

According to authorities, a Dallas police officer shot her "in the lower extremities” and Odufuwa was taken to a local hospital.

No other injuries were reported. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia told reporters "At this point, we don’t know where exactly this individual was aiming,"

Judy Rawle told FOX 4 that she saw the armed woman dressed in all black, walking in the terminal "with guns up."

"We were at the counter checking in, and I was trying to check in and we heard someone yelling. And we looked up and we saw her walking down with guns up."

The outlet reported that another witness said that the suspect, "was upset because her husband had got fired from somewhere."

A TSA spokesperson told Fox News, "The shooting occurred in a non-secure area at the ticket counter."

The airport suspended operations after the shooting and the TSA evacuated the terminal and ordered mandatory rescreening for all travelers. 1,300 Southwest flights were delayed and almost 300 of the carrier's flights were canceled. Traffic was jammed at the airport for hours following the shooting.

The FBI is reportedly assisting Dallas police in the investigation.