Detroit officers fatally shoot woman waving gun at gas station, police say

Detroit police officers shot and killed an unidentified woman Sunday evening after she allegedly waved a gun at patrons of a gas station and then aimed it at officers when they sought to intervene, authorities said.

Detroit police Chief James White held a news conference Sunday at the scene on the 15200 block of East Seven Mile, where he offered “condolences to the family” of the person killed.

Police were called to the gas station at about 6 p.m. for reports of a woman wielding a gun at customers and a store employee, “terrorizing people as they entered and exited the store,” White said.

When officers arrived, the woman aimed her weapon at the officers and "officers actively engaged her with gunfire," White said. No shots were fired by her, he said. He did not know how many shots were fired by officers.

The woman died at a hospital, he said.

White said there will be an independent investigation with Michigan State Police and the department's homicide task force "and that's key."

"We pull our evidence, our video assets ...,” White said. “All the protocols have been followed. Now we look at our policies, we look and make sure our policies were followed to the letter."

"... It's a tragic day ... My heart goes out to the family. This is someone's sister, perhaps someone's mother, certainly someone's daughter."

The woman was unidentified Sunday night.

“We don’t know who she is right now,” White said.