Today's Police Killing: A Mentally Ill Woman in Phoenix, AZ

By David Schwartz, Reuters

17 August 14

mentally ill woman was shot and killed by a Phoenix police sergeant at an apartment complex in the city after she threatened officers with a claw hammer, police officials said on Friday.

Michelle Cusseaux, 50, was killed on Thursday by a single gunshot at the threshold of her apartment as officers were attempting to serve an emergency court order to take her to a mental health facility, Phoenix police spokesman Sergeant Tommy Thompson said.

Officers came face-to-face with a hammer-wielding Cusseaux when she opened the front door just as officers were able to get through a security door, Thompson said. He said she then raised the hammer and went at the officers.

Cusseaux was shot by a Phoenix police sergeant at close range and was pronounced dead later at a local hospital, he said.

The sergeant, whose name was not immediately released, was put on administrative leave as part of department policy. He is a 19-year Phoenix police veteran.