Woman shot, killed by Fayetteville police during mental health 'crisis'

A Fayetteville police officer shot and killed a woman who was suffering from a crisis and threatening to hurt herself, authorities said early Saturday morning.

Fayetteville Asst. Police Chief James Nolette said officers were dispatched Friday at around 9 p.m. to the 2300 block of Colgate Drive, a residential area, after someone reported that four men were attempting to break-in to their home.

Once on scene, officers said they could not find any evidence that a home break-in occurred, according to Nolette.

Nolette said officers interviewed the mother at the home of the reported break-in and found inconsistencies in her story. After officers were on scene for around 30 minutes, they were able to determine she was in a mental health crisis, Nolette said.

After talking with the woman for about 30 minutes, the woman pulled out a firearm and threatened to harm herself. Next to the woman was her grandmother and her daughter, who were "in harm's way," according to Nolette.

Nolette said officers "relentlessly" tried to get the woman to put the weapon down.

"Officers, within feet of this young lady at the time, while trying to de-escalate, trying to talk her down, spent about an hour in this situation in close proximity to her, trying to get her to relinquish the handgun," Nolette said.

She eventually agreed to seek help at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Nolette said.

"She's still armed with a handgun during this whole time," he emphasized during the early morning press conference.

After she agreed to put the handgun down and seek help, officers attempted to grab it from her. That's when the officers began to struggle with the woman, according to Nolette, and an officer shot her.

Nolette did not provide clear details during the press conference as to what exactly happened during the struggle. Fayetteville police did not say if any officers were injured during the struggle.

The officer who fired his weapon has been placed on administrative leave and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate the shooting, which is standard for all officer-involved shootings.

It's unclear how many times the woman was shot, if she was armed while shot, or if she was aiming a weapon at the officer during the struggle.

"This is a tragic situation," Nolette said.

The two officers involved were wearing body cameras.