Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Lakewood Police Shoot and Kill Suspect in Domestic Violence Call

The 46-year-old female suspect asked officers to shoot her when she pointed a weapon at police outside her home, officers said. The gun turned out to be a BB pistol.

Lakewood Police officers shot and killed a 46-year-old woman Monday after she pointed a weapon at officers who had arrived at her home following a domestic violence report. 

Carolyn Moran-Hernandez yelled, "Shoot me," as she pointed at officers what they thought was a handgun when she walked outside of her house at Frances Court Mobile Home Park in the 3200 block of 83rd Street South, according to the preliminary incident report. 

Three officers shot nine rounds at Moran-Hernandez, striking her several times. After the shooting, they discovered she was holding a Crosman .177-caliber BB pistol.

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"It continues to be a concern of law enforcement that these types of non-lethal weapons are manufactured to look like real large-caliber weapons," Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler said in a press release.

"These types of weapons continue to be used in similar types of situations and other crimes such as robbery and assault."

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According to the police report:

Officers had arrived  at the home after Moran-Hernandez's partner — described as a 45-year-old woman — said the other woman had punched her and was armed with a knife. Officers had set up positions in the front of the home when Moran-Hernandez opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.  

She appeared to be unarmed. 

Moran-Hernandez then yelled, "Shoot me," which she repeated several times.  She then said she was  going back into the house to get something and returned with the BB gun in her hand.

Officers warned her several times to drop the weapon but Moran-Hernandez refused. Then she raised the gun and aimed it at police, the report said. Three officers opened fire.

Moran-Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. Each of the officers involved in the shooting  has been with the department for more than 10 years, Lawler said. All have been placed on paid administrative leave--standard policy for an officer-related shooting.

Lawler said officers only have a split second to analyze the threat when a weapon is pointed at them. "And these types of weapons make it extremely difficult to assess that threat based on their realism," Lawler said.

Moran-Hernandez's 27-year-old daughter was inside the residence when the shooting occurred. She was not hurt.

Investigators said the couple had been partners for more than a decade and both lived at the residence. Police officers had responded to this address in March of 2009 for a domestic violence call involving the two women and also in September of 2009 for an overdose call.

Original Story

Officials are saying that an unidentified woman pointed a gun at Lakewood police officers and was fatally shot after a verbal confrontation Monday morning around 9:30 a.m., KOMO-TV news has reported.

Police officers arrived to a domestic dispute at the Frances Court Mobile Home Park located at the 3200 block of 83rd Street South because a woman called 911 to report another woman had threatened her with a knife. Police showed up and a woman was holding a knife and telling officers, "shoot me, shoot me."

No shots were initially fired on the woman but she went back into the house, returned with a gun and pointed it at three police officers. She was immediately shot and died at the scene.

Check back later with more details.


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