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New York police officer fatally shoots 66-year-old woman

Posted at 8:14 AM, Oct 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-19 10:26:12-04

(CNN) — A New York City police officer shot and killed a 66-year-old woman while responding to a call at a Bronx apartment, police officials said Wednesday.

Officers went to the Pugsley Avenue apartment around 6 p.m. Tuesday after a neighbor called 911 about an “emotionally disturbed person,” Assistant Chief Larry W. Nikunen said.

A sergeant entered the seventh-floor apartment and encountered the woman, who was armed with scissors, but he persuaded her to put them down, Nikunen said.

The woman grabbed a baseball bat and attempted to strike the sergeant, Nikunen said. The officer fired two shots, striking the woman in the torso, he said. She died of her injuries after being taken to Jacobi Medical Center.

The officer was armed with a Taser, but it was not deployed, Nikunen said.

The reason it was not deployed and whether it was necessary for the sergeant to open fire will be a part of the investigation by the New York police’s Force Investigation Division, Nikunen said.

The officer is a white male and an eight-year veteran of the New York City Police Department. The woman was a 66-year-old black female who lived alone, Nikunen said. Police have not identified the officer or the woman.

Nikunen said that the New York police has a history of responding to this apartment for similar disturbances.

“There have been several instances with this individual with similar types of calls,” Nikunen said, adding he did not have the details on those earlier incidents.