Florida senior shot dead by cops after firing gun inside police station
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A shocking video released by Florida police showed the fatal shooting of an elderly woman who walked into a police station with a gun last week and fired a shot.
In surveillance video released by the Port Orange Police Department , the woman heads into the police station’s lobby at about 8:40 a.m. on Sept. 3. She then pulls out a gun and starts waving it.
Moments later, she fires a shot, which police said was directed at the evidence room where civilian employees were present.
After an unarmed civilian opens a door to the lobby, police officers order the woman to drop her weapon. The woman shakes her head, apparently defying police, and walks out of the station while still holding the gun.
Incident escalated in parking lot
Outside, an officer in the parking lot also orders the woman to drop her weapon, but she continues walking toward the cop.
“Drop it,” the officer warns. “I’m going to shoot you. Drop the gun,” he says, before firing three shots.
The woman falls to the ground, but sits up as the cop tells her to “stay away from the gun.” When she reaches for the firearm on the ground, officers fire multiple shots.
Police said the woman was taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries.
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Woman looked ‘like a zombie’
Authorities identified her as Linda Croteau, 71, but did not release a motive for the shooting.
Speaking to WESH TV , Croteau’s stepson said she was struggling following the death of her husband, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when he spoke to her the night before the fatal incident.
A construction worker who witnessed the shooting outside the station said Croteau appeared confused.
“She was quiet. She didn’t say anything at all. She walked out of the front door like a zombie, almost just completely out of it,” Caleb Lemons told Fox 25 Orlando .
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.