California deputy fatally shoots knife-wielding mom in front of her kids
A California deputy fatally shot a woman in front of her two young children as she charged at another cop with a knife, graphic video shows.
The footage, released Wednesday by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, shows 33-year-old Ariella Crawford walking along a road in Alta Sierra with her two young children when Deputy Caleb Toderean approaches her.
A nearby resident had called 911 on Feb. 4 to report a woman walking in the middle of the road amid “significant traffic,” sheriff’s officials said.
The video shows Crawford becoming immediately upset as the deputies approach, prompting her to pull out a large knife.
“For reasons yet unknown, Ms. Crawford was very upset with the presence of our deputies despite one of them saying she was not in any trouble,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said.
Toderean tells Crawford she is “not in trouble or anything like that” and denies that he is going to touch the woman’s babies, the clip shows.
“But I need you to put your knife away,” Toderean tells Crawford.
“Don’t hurt my babies!” Crawford replies before yelling at the deputies. “If something happens to me and my babies, everyone in the whole world will know!”
Toderean says he “just wanted to help out,” but Crawford continues screaming and walks toward him as a second deputy, Matthew Harrison, points a Taser at the woman, video shows.
After the Taser is deployed, Crawford charges at Harrison with the knife, prompting Toderean to open fire.
“After Deputy Toderean discharged his service weapon, Ms. Crawford was still holding the knife,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement while releasing the graphic footage. “When she dropped it, the deputies immediately began medical aid.”
Crawford was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Moon said.
The Nevada County District Attorney’s Office will review the fatal shooting to determine whether it was “justified and lawful,” Moon said.
“We released this video prior to the conclusion of that investigation in the interest of transparency with our community,” the sheriff said. “We make no judgment on the incident or how it unfolded. That is for the district attorney’s office to determine.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/18/deputy-fatally-shoots-knife-wielding-mom-in-front-of-her-kids/
Photo Credit: Nevada County Sheriff’s Office