Deadly officer involved shooting in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Austin police officers fatally shot a 26-year-old woman early Sunday after they say she pointed a gun at them, refused their commands to drop it and advanced toward them.
Assistant Police Chief Troy Gay said officers responded to an apartment complex after the woman's husband called 911 to say his wife was behaving erratically and needed help. The man told police before they arrived that she had a weapon.
Gay said that the woman came out of a building at the apartment complex with the gun pointed toward officers.
"She extended the weapon toward the officers and said: `Shoot me, shoot me. Kill me,"' Gay said.
He said when she continued to come toward police and refused commands to drop the gun, two officers opened fire. After she fell to the ground, she continued to say she wanted to be killed and she pointed the gun at the officers, leading one of them to fire on her again, he said. The officers were then able to take the weapon from her. He didn't say if the gun was loaded.
Gay said police administered first aid to the woman, who was taken to a hospital, where she died. He did not yet have information on where she was shot.
"Anytime that we have a loss of life, it's a very, very tragic event," Gay said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the decedent, as well as the officers and their families."
Police have not yet released the woman's name or the names of the two officers who fired shots.
Police said they have audio recordings of the incident but no video, and there were no witnesses to the shooting.