14 DAY TRIAL // A woman has been killed in a police shooting in Sterling in Loudoun County, Virginia. She was not carrying a firearm but she did attack officers with scissors and a knife, reports are saying.
According to the Washington Post, 38-year-old Mhai Scott was employed at a local Costco in Sterling, at the corner of Cascades Parkway and Route 7.
Police were called in at her workplace at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29. She was acting erratically and she allegedly threatened other employees.
Clients listened to her say “crazy things” and discuss the number of portions in a pizza box.
“She was frightening her supervisor,” manager Renee Haber describes, adding that coworkers called 911.
As police were trying to calm her down, she attacked them with a knife. Loudoun Sheriff Michael Chapman describes the officers trying to calm her down and using a stun gun to no avail.
“[I am] confident in the way our deputies responded.
“Preliminary indications are that she came at the deputies with a knife.
“It’s a tragic situation. [...] I feel for everybody involved,” he said in a statement.
Police fired five shots, according to witness accounts, prompting a frenzy as clients rushed to leave.
“Get out of the Costco! Get out of Costco!
“It was really horrible. [...] You don’t feel safe, and this is our back yard. Costco is our back yard. You go there all the time,” they were yelling, according to Nora LaTeef.
“Everyone was running out of the building not knowing what was going on. [...] I was a little scared so I got out of there pretty quick,” Robert Krause adds.
One officer was shot, presumably in a ricochet. He has incurred minor wounds and he is recovering.
”He looked like he was on his cellphone as he was being carried out, so I hope he’s okay,” Krause mentions.
[Update, May 30 2013]: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that the victim was not carrying a weapon. In fact, she did not have a firearm in her possession. The error has been corrected with the help of our readers.