A Pregnant Woman called the police for help but she ended up getting fatally shot by the two Seattle Police officers who responded to her call.
According to NBC News, authorities confirmed the news on Monday saying that two of their officers were deployed at the apartment complex of the woman, identified as 30-year-old charleena lyles, located in Northeast Seattle at around 10 in the morning over the weekend. The woman called 911 to report a break-in at her apartment. When officials arrived, Lyles reportedly talked about the break-in then suddenly came at the officer with a knife.
Three of Lyles' children were in the apartment when the attack happened. Per the audio recording of the incident, Lyles was heard telling the officers, “you ready? Motherf*****s.” One of the kids started to cry when Lyles got shot. The Seattle Police Department said in a statement that the two officers who opened fire on the pregnant woman performed first aid while they waited for emergency responders with the Seattle Fire Department. She was declared dead at the scene upon the responders’ arrival.
Family of Charleena Lyles saddened by incident
The family of Lyles said she was three months along. They admitted that she struggled with mental health issues. Although they are aware that she was mental health issues, they believe the officers should have tased her instead of opening fire.
The sister of Lyles, Monika Williams, noted that the officers might have racially profiled Lyles and it contributed to the decision to shoot her. Lyles was black and the two officers were white. The officers have been placed on administrative leave.
Charleena Lyles had run-ins with police in the past
Two officers were deployed to the apartment of Lyles as she has had run-ins with the police.
Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson said the address was tagged as inhabited by an individual that posed increased risk to officials. Details about the past encounters of Seattle police with Lyles remained under wraps.
The two officers were, however, aware of how mentally unstable Lyles was. Per the audio, when they were on their way to the apartment of Lyles, the older police, who is said to be an 11-year veteran of the force, told the newer officer that the victim once talked about how the officers were not going to leave her home and that she and one of her kids, a daughter, were going to turn into wolves.
One of the officers also clarified that Lyles was the woman with three kids and the other officer confirmed. The fact that the officers knew a lot about Lyles led to criticisms on how they handled the situation.
