Woman tells ONLY 13 she was armed for protection, didn't realize HCSO at door before they shot her

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The woman shot by sheriff's deputies at her friend's Cloverleaf-area apartment on Feb. 3 is speaking out in an exclusive interview with ABC13.

Eboni Pouncy, 28, said she and her friend had returned to her friend's apartment when her friend realized she had forgotten her keys. Pouncy said the pair broke a window to let themselves in.

A downstairs neighbor previously told Eyewitness News he thought the apartment was being broken into and called 911.

SEE MORE: Armed woman shot by deputies in her Cloverleaf apartment after being mistaken for intruder

Two Harris County sheriff's deputies arrived just after 2 a.m.

In body camera footage released Saturday, you can hear them knock and say, "Sheriff's office."

"We got into the house. We were watching TV. There was a knock at the door at that time, and I got up, and I grabbed my gun, and I went to go greet who was ever at the door," Pouncy told Eyewitness News.

Pouncy said that while she heard the knock, she didn't hear the deputies identify themselves.

Eyewitness News asked Pouncy why she went to the door with a gun.

"Because the window was broken, and I believed I was taking safety precaution at that time of night, and so I was just trying to do the right thing," she replied.

In the body camera video, a deputy shouts for Pouncy to drop her gun, and then both deputies immediately begin shooting.

"I didn't know what was going on. I didn't even realize that I was hit," Pouncy said.

Pouncy was struck five times, including twice in the chest.

She said she didn't realize the gunshot sounds at first and that it took her a while before realizing she'd been shot.

"I started seeing holes in the walls as I was standing there, and then I realized it was something coming through the apartment," she said.

When the gunfire finally subsides, a cell phone video shared with ABC13 shows Pouncy's friend being ordered downstairs by deputies.

Pouncy remains upstairs before making her way downstairs as well.

"I got up off the ground after I had prayed, and I walked to the door, and I held onto the rails, and I just made my way down," Pouncy said.

It'll be a long road to recovery for Pouncy, a mother of a 1-year-old girl. She currently uses a walker to get around, and even sitting for her interview with Eyewitness News caused her pain.

"Breathing too hard, laughing. Everything hurts," she said. "I'm not able to be as attentive with my baby. She's only 1. So that's probably the hardest part."

Pouncy retained high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent her.

Crump told Eyewitness News that Pouncy will continue to explore her legal options.

The two deputies were put on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The case was also referred to a grand jury, which is standard practice in shootings involving deputies.

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