A woman was fatally shot by police in California on Sunday after she ignored multiple orders to drop a gun she was pointing at a 3-year-old’s head, authorities said.
Officials have not determined why Darvet Brown, 35, entered a family’s home in San Bernardino with a handgun. Police were called to the home at around 8 a.m. by the child’s distraught grandmother, who told officers that Brown had already shot off the gun inside the residence, according to a news release from the San Bernardino Police Department.
When police arrived, Brown walked onto the apartment’s balcony, pointed a gun at an officer, then retreated into the apartment where the child was located and locked the door, police said.
An image captured on a police body camera after an officer kicked the door open shows Brown standing on a bed in the living room with a gun pointed directly at the child, who was seated on the bed.
“The child was crying and was in immediate danger of being shot at that moment,” said the press release.
That’s when officers fired several rounds at the suspect. Police said Brown kept the gun in her hand despite being wounded and ordered to drop her weapon.
Officers fired on Brown again, then ran to grab the child. The child was returned to family members outside, uninjured.
“Medical aid was rendered to the suspect, however she succumbed to her injuries at the residence,” said the police press release.
Police have determined that Brown was not related to the child. She is a resident of San Bernardino.
A neighbor told an NBC News affiliate in Los Angeles that he heard the commotion while he was still in bed on Sunday morning.
“Yeah I was scared. Of course, who wouldn’t be?” Jack Quiroz told KNBC. “First I heard the helicopter and then I heard gunshots, and I came outside and I seen the police all over the place.”
Police said an investigation into the incident is ongoing, and are urging members of the public with information to come forward.
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