Seattle officers in fatal shooting had crisis training
SEATTLE — Two Seattle police officers who shot and killed a pregnant woman inside her apartment had been trained to deal with people showing signs of mental illness or other behaviour crises.
Officials also say the officers had at least one less-lethal way to handle the woman who they knew had a previous volatile encounter with law enforcement and had been having mental health issues.
Still, within minutes of arriving Sunday to take a burglary report, the officers drew their guns and shot 30-year-old Charleena Lyles with three of her four children inside her apartment.
Authorities say Lyles confronted the officers with two kitchen knives — less than two weeks after she had threatened officers with long metal shears when they responded to a domestic disturbance at her home.