FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — The Fayetteville Police Department says one of their officers shot and killed a woman in Fayetteville while responding to a call Friday night.
Assistant Chief James Nolette held a press conference early Saturday morning to address the situation.
He says at about 9:41 p.m. Friday, officers were called to a home on the 2300 block of Colgate Drive in reference to four men attempting to break in.
They arrived to find a mother, a young daughter, a grandmother and a grandfather at the home.
While police were on scene investigating, they report they did not find any evidence of a burglary.
Officers say the mother had some inconsistencies with her story when they asked her about what happened and that she came off like she was in a crisis.
Suddenly, she took out a handgun and threatened to harm herself, according to police.
Nolette says officers were within feet of her and tried tried to deescalate the situation. He says they pled with her to put the gun down and offered to get her help.
The grandmother and the young child were there while this was going on and were in harm’s way, according to officers.
After about an hour, police say they attempted to take the handgun from her and gain control of it.
The struggle then went to the ground and the officer shot the gun.
The woman is now dead, police say.
Nolette says the incident escalated very quickly and called it a “tragic situation.”
He says two officers were on scene throughout the whole incident, and the officer who shot the gun will be placed on administrative leave.
The State Bureau of Investigations has been requested to come in and handle the situation.
Nolette says body camera footage from the incident will be turned over to the agency.