A standoff with an armed woman in Fayetteville turned deadly Friday night.
Assistant Police Chief James Nolette said officers spent more than an hour trying to persuade the woman to put down her gun so the situation could end peacefully, but eventually the woman struggled physically with police.
“The struggle went to the ground and, tragically, an officer discharged their firearm,” Nolette said in a WTVD report on Monday. “We relentlessly tried to de-escalate the situation trying to get her to put the weapon down so she can get the help she needs.”
Police responded to the scene on the 2300 block of Colgate Drive after getting a call about four black men trying to break into a home. Upon arriving, officers found, instead, an older couple, a woman and a child.
The woman, apparently in the middle of a mental health crisis, pulled out a gun and threatened to harm herself.
“I knew something bad had happened. I just didn’t know what,” neighbor Dawn Faircloth said in the report, “It’s always been a good, safe area. I’ve lived over here since childhood. What happened the other night is beginning to give me a little doubt about staying here.”
The identity of the dead woman has not yet been released.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Fayetteville Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit are investigating in accordance with standard protocol after an officer-involved shooting, WTVD reported. While the investigation continues, the officer has been placed on administrative duty, another standard in this type of event.
