HENRICO, Va. (AP) - A Virginia police chief says an officer shot and killed a woman after forcing entry into her locked bedroom and finding her wielding an ax.
In a video released by Henrico County Police Chief Humberto Cardounel on Thursday, he says officers were performing a doctor-requested welfare check on 57-year-old Gay Plack. He says she didn’t respond to officers’ knocks, so they went behind her house and entered through an “unsecured” door. Officers didn’t see anyone, but later forced entry into a locked bedroom where Plack was hiding. Cardounel says she swung an ax at an officer before they shot her.
News outlets report a medical examiner confirmed Plack died from a stomach gunshot wound.
Plack’s brother says she’d struggled with bipolar disorder, and condemned officers for entering the home uninvited.
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