Woman accused in police ambush, pictured on TPD missing persons poster just weeks earlier

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A woman shot and killed by police in Tom Brown Park last week had previously been featured in a missing persons post on the Tallahassee Police Department’s Facebook page.

Asia Fitzgerald was listed as a “Missing Adult” in a TPD Facebook post dated April 14th. It showed her wearing a hoodie, described her as 5′7″ - 5′8″, weighing 115-120 pounds and asked anyone with information to call the police department.

A later Facebook post said “Update: the missing person has been located.”

WCTV requested copies of the missing persons report.

It showed Fitzgerald was reported missing April 14th by a friend who was concerned that she hadn’t been seen or heard from in two days. The man told police the two were homeless and lived in a van in the yard of an Indian Head Acres home.

TPD confirms that van was towed out of Tom Brown Park the day after the deadly shootout. TPD also confirms the man who reported Fitzgerald missing is the same man detained, questioned and released just before the shooting began. WCTV is not naming him because he has not been charged with a crime.

The man told police Fitzgerald had been “under a lot of stress recently and made comments that she has lost hope and has had thoughts of taking her own life.”

He told responding officers that Fitzgerald liked to frequent walking trails and “various city parks.”

An entry in the police report listed Fitzgerald as having “ties with anarchy groups,” but does not elaborate. We reached out to TPD to find out why that note was included and why the Deputy Chief called her and her friend “threatening to law enforcement” in a press conference the morning after the deadly shootout in Tom Brown Park. TPD telling us it received information from the FBI “regarding a potential threat to officer safety.” We are now reaching out to the FBI to try to learn more.

A supplemental report filed approximately 5 hours after the missing persons report indicated Fitzgerald returned home and called police to tell them she was okay.

Officers again responded to the home in Indian Head Acres and Fitzgerald is quoted as telling them “she had gotten lost and slept on a bench before taking a bus back the apartment. She appeared unharmed and in good spirits.”

That supplemental report also had new information about Fitzgerald, who it described as “known to have depression and likely a narcotics user.”

It also said Fitzgerald’s friend had told officers the two of them were “anarchists” and “living off the grid.” That report said the man told officers they had no “traceable technology,” which officers said was “believed to be false.”

The supplemental report also indicates the same day Fitzgerald was last seen before being reported missing, April 12th, TPD detectives had been out to talk to her and her friend about an unrelated homicide investigation.

“Based on the totality of the circumstances, there was a well-founded fear for Fitzgerald’s safety,” the supplemental report said.

We reached out to TPD to find out more about the homicide investigation and why detectives were questioning Fitzgerald and her friend about it. TPD telling us that “this was not their first encounter with law enforcement” and the homicide investigation “is currently open and still an active investigation.”

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook and Twitter.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Write us here.

Keep up with all the biggest headlines on the WCTV News app. Click here to download it now.

Copyright 2023 WCTV. All rights reserved.