A supporter of Black Lives Matter with schizophrenia was shot dead by police in the Bronx on Tuesday after authorities say she swung a baseball bat at an officer. In the NYPD's telling, officers were responding to a complaint about a woman acting irrationally when they entered 66-year-old Deborah Danner's apartment around 6pm and found her naked and wielding scissors, per NBC New York. After Sgt. Hugh Barry convinced Danner to drop the scissors, she picked up a wooden bat and "attempted to strike" him, leading the eight-year veteran to fire two shots, authorities say, per the New York Daily News. Danner—whom police had encountered before—was hit twice in the torso and died at a nearby hospital.
The NYPD says it's investigating why Barry—now on modified duty—didn't use the Taser he was carrying. "To me, it is very difficult to understand how a woman who is [66] years old and has emotional problems should have to die like this," says Democratic state Sen. Ruben Diaz. The president of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, however, says the shooting was justified and that Barry was only placed on modified duty as a "political" move. According to the New York Post, Danner—a black woman—spoke out about gun violence and racism on Twitter and expressed support for Black Lives Matter. "How'd U like to move about w/a TARGET on you because of the color of your skin?" she wrote in July. (More police shooting stories.)
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