FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — A woman died Friday after she was shot by a Fayetteville police officer after a lengthy standoff that ended when she struggled with officers over her gun, police said.
Neither the woman nor the officers involved have been identified according to Assistant Fayetteville Police Chief James Nolette. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
The officers were wearing body cameras, and the footage is being reviewed and will be turned over to SBI, police said.
According to Nolette, officers went to the 2300 block of Colgate Drive to investigate a report of several men attempting to break into a home. Officers didn’t find any evidence of a break-in but talked to a woman in the home who gave inconsistent accounts of the break-in and appeared to be “in a crisis.”
While talking with the officers, Nolette said the woman displayed a handgun and threatened to harm herself, prompting two officers to spend about an hour trying to deescalate the situation. She eventually agreed to accept some assistance but would not put down the gun.
After about an hour of negotiations — and with her grandmother and child nearby and in “harm’s way” — Nolette said the woman continued to refuse to put down the gun. She eventually fell to the ground during a struggle with two officers before she was shot by another officer.