Baltimore resident says knife-wielding neighbor's death by police shooting was preventable

CBS News

2 days ago

A West Baltimore community is seeking answers after a knife-wielding neighbor was shot and killed by police Wednesday afternoon.
Police said a 70-year-old woman lunged at officers with a knife twice during a mental health crisis before she was tased and was then shot twice. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Janet Bailey, the president of the Laburt Improvement Community Association, is advocating for mental health resources in the neighborhood.
She said her neighbor's death was preventable.
"Even if you shot her, could she be shot in the leg or the foot, in the arm, in the shoulder?" Bailey said. "Where she had the knife and was coming down on ya'll, couldn't she have been shot in the shoulder? Did she have to be shot two times and killed…70 years old…I'm saying 70 years old."
Neighbor passes out mental health information
Bailey is pushing to get her community some help to deal with mental health issues.
She walked door-to-door and handed out information about the Tuerk House, which is a behavioral health and urgent care center in their neighborhood.
Bailey passed out the flyers to honor her neighbor.
"She has rights too, so my prayers are with her and her family," Bailey said. "I'm going to pass out these flyers today in the heat, come hell or high water. Our people need to know."
Police: 70-year-old was shot twice by an officer
Around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police responded to the home in the 2700 block of Mosher Street, where they found a 70-year-old woman suffering from a behavioral health crisis.
Police said the woman pulled out a knife, lunged at officers, including one who fell, and was then shot twice.
Commissioner Richard Worley said officers attempted to take her into custody for her safety, but when she didn't comply with orders, she was tased and then shot.
Worley said there have been more than 20 calls to the home this year, including for behavioral health crises.
"I think this is a nationwide crisis with behavioral health crisis. Unfortunately, too many of them end up with the use of force," Worley said. "We've done an excellent job with training our officers, getting them to de-escalate these situations. Unfortunately, this one, they weren't able to de-escalate, and it ended in tragedy."
Maryland's Attorney General's Office is investigating, which is the protocol for police shootings.