Cop Shoots, Kills Unarmed Woman After Car Fight

A police detective shot and killed an unarmed woman in the streets of Brooklyn yesterday, after she crashed a stolen car and tried to flee the scene. The trouble started when two plainclothes narcotics officers spotted a gray Camry making a "wild" U-turn, running several lights, and then smashing head-on into a minivan. Police approached, and the driver hit one of them with the passenger door in an attempt to escape. When that failed, she slammed the car in reverse, the New York Times reports.

A police officer leaned in the driver's side window with a gun in one hand, trying to shift the car into park. The gun went off once, hitting the woman in the chest; she staggered out of the car. "She hollered, 'Call the ambulance! Please don't let me die,'" before collapsing, one witness tells the New York Post. Someone from the crowd rushed to cradle her, while others shouted, "Murderers!" at police. According to the Post the woman was 23-year-old Shantel Davis, who had eight prior arrests and was out on bail for attempted murder and other charges. The car was stolen June 5 in a carjacking. Police are investigating the shooting; sources say Davis may have grabbed for the gun before it went off. One state assemblyman called the incident "questionable," saying officers "may have not acted with good judgment." (More police stories.)