A white police officer accused of the fatal shooting of a black woman in her home in Texas has resigned, according to officials.

Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said that if the officer, Aaron Dean, had not resigned, he would have been fired.

Officer Dean shot 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson through her window in the early hours of Saturday morning in Fort Worth as she played video games with her eight-year-old nephew.

Her family earlier expressed outrage that the officer had not been arrested or fired.

Fort Worth Police Department said officers responded early on Saturday morning after a neighbour called a non-emergency line to report the home’s front door had been left open. The responding officer fired a shot through a window.

“Why this man is not in handcuffs is a source of continued agitation for this family and for this community,” family lawyer Lee Merritt said at a news conference in Dallas on Monday.

“Nobody looked at this video and said that there’s any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately,” Mr Kraus said.

Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price called for “justice and closure” for Ms Jefferson’s family, and Mr Kraus said he expects a “substantial update” by Tuesday on whether criminal charges will be filed against Dean.

Bouquets of flowers outside the home
Bouquets of flowers outside the home (Jake Bleiberg/AP)

Fort Worth is about 30 miles west of Dallas, where another high-profile police shooting occurred last year. In that case, white Dallas police officer Amber Guyger fatally shot her black neighbour Botham Jean inside his own apartment after Guyger said she mistook it for her own. Guyger, 31, was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison.

On Monday, family members described Ms Jefferson as a smart, nurturing woman who recently moved in with her mother to help care for her. A sister, Ashley Carr, said Ms Jefferson embodied honour, integrity, commitment and service.

“Any neighbourhood would be proud to have her as a neighbour and any city would be proud to have her as a citizen,” Ms Carr said.

Fort Worth police said officers saw someone near a window inside the home and that one of them drew his duty weapon and fired after “perceiving a threat”. Bodycam video released by police shows two officers searching the home from the outside with flashlights before one shouts: “Put your hands up, show me your hands.” One shot is then fired through a window.

In the video, the officer does not identify himself as police.

Bodycam footage
Bodycam footage (Fort Worth Police Department/AP)

According to a demographics report released by the police department, nearly two-thirds of its 1,100 officers were white, as of June 30. Just over 20% were Hispanic or Latino and about 10% were black.

Fort Worth Police Officers Association issued a statement calling for “a thorough and transparent investigation” into the shooting.

Fort Worth police said they released the bodycam footage soon after the shooting for transparency, but that any “camera footage inside the residence” could not be distributed due to state law.

The video included blurred still frames showing a gun inside a bedroom.

It is unclear if the firearm was found near Ms Jefferson, and police have not said that the officer who shot her thought she was holding a gun. The police statement released on Saturday said only that officers who entered the residence after the shooting found a firearm.

A community vigil
A community vigil (Smiley N Pool/Dallas Morning News/AP)

A large crowd gathered outside Ms Jefferson’s home on Sunday night for a vigil after earlier demonstrations briefly stopped traffic on part of Interstate 35.

Ms Jefferson was a 2014 graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, the university said.

Mr Merritt said she was working in pharmaceutical equipment sales and was considering going back to medical school.