November 10. 2014
By Matt Durr
A 40-year-old (click here) Ann Arbor woman was shot and killed Sunday night after she confronted Ann Arbor City police officers with a knife.
According to a press release issued by the AAPD, officers were dispatched to a home in the 2000 block of Winewood Avenue in Ann Arbor at 11:45 p.m. Sunday night for a domestic disturbance. When officers arrived at the scene, they were confronted by the woman who was armed with a knife.
One officer fired his weapon at the woman, striking her. Medical personnel declared the woman dead at the scene....
According to her boyfriend who was in the house at the time, stated he believed her to have mental health problems. The woman, now dead, was carrying a fish knife when police came to the door. It was the boyfriend that called the police expecting to receive help to contain the anger of the dispute and obviously didn't expect her to be killed in the process. There are State Police investigators involved in obtaining the facts.
According to her boyfriend who was in the house at the time, stated he believed her to have mental health problems. The woman, now dead, was carrying a fish knife when police came to the door. It was the boyfriend that called the police expecting to receive help to contain the anger of the dispute and obviously didn't expect her to be killed in the process. There are State Police investigators involved in obtaining the facts.
November 10, 2014
The boyfriend (click here) of the 40-year-old Ann Arbor woman who was shot and killed by police Sunday night said he doesn't understand why police had to use lethal force to take down the woman who had a knife in her hand as she confronted officers.
Victor Stephens, 54, is the homeowner at 2083 Winewood Ave., where his girlfriend was shot by police who were responding to a domestic disturbance call.
Stephens said the woman -- whose name is being withheld until police can reach the next of kin -- has three children, two sons and a daughter."Why would you kill her? He shot her in the head and in the chest," Stephens said. "It was a woman with a knife. It doesn't make any sense."...
...Stephens said the woman had a fish knife in her hand when police announced their arrival.
"The police said 'police,' so I stopped. She walked towards them," Stephens said. "They said 'freeze' and the next thing I know I heard (gunshots)."
After the shots were fired, Stephens later asked if he could talk to the woman and that's when he was informed she was dead.
"Where were the Tasers at? She wasn't going to kill anybody with a knife," Stephens said. "That's unnecessary."
Stephens said the hallway where the woman was shot was well lit, and it was clear the woman didn't have a gun. There were five people in the home when police arrived.
Stephens said he and the woman had been dating for about nine months and he believed she had a history of mental illness, but he wasn't able to elaborate. He said the woman had moved in with him so she could get away from Detroit and get some help in the Ann Arbor area....
