A Tennessee woman who walked toward an officer holding a small decorative ax was shot twice and killed on Wednesday morning.
According to the NY Daily News, police released video of the incident to the media and the public on Thursday.
The video footage from officer James Spray’s body camera shows Leronda Sweatt walking slowly toward him holding what the News described as “an elaborate skull-ax.”
Spray yelled at Sweatt to “get on the ground,” and “drop it” as he backed away from her.
Video footage from the dash cam of a second patrol unit arriving on the scene shows Spray bumping into the 2nd officer’s patrol car before firing twice and striking Sweatt.
She died later from 2 gunshot wounds at a local hospital.
Spray’s original story was that the 40-year-old woman backed him inside his vehicle before he fired his service weapon at her.
According to the News, Spray and other officers were called to the scene after Sweatt stabbed a Sumner County Sheriff’s deputy who attempted to serve her with an eviction notice around 9 a.m.
The deputy was stabbed before he could use his Taser on her, the News said. He was treated at a local hospital where he received 20 stitches and was released the same day.
Police say, in addition to the ax and a 16-inch sword tucked under her shirt, Sweatt had in her possession a 5-inch folding knife which she threw on the ground and a “ninja star” in one of her pants pockets.
Leronda Sweatt’s family told the News that she suffered from bipolar disorder. They said she was negotiating with her landlord to pay her rent.
Officers met with members of the Gallatin black community on Thursday to show them the full video footage of the incident.
Sweatt’s daughter, Alainna Sweatt, called her mother’s death “unnecessary” and unprovoked.
She told the Tennessean newspaper that the video footage only shows “half of the story that the police wants you to see.”
Her grandmother Ella said that Sweatt was bipolar, and “wasn’t a bad person.”
Officer Spray was placed on administrative leave while the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKcy0yFE9cI
