California Woman Who Allegedly Pointed Gun at Toddler In Front of Police Is Shot and Killed by Officers

Police officers in southern California shot and killed a woman on Sunday who allegedly was pointing a gun at a 3-year-old child, according to a local media report.

Officers with the San Bernardino Police Department responded around 8 a.m. to reports of a “very distraught” woman holding a gun to the child’s head in a residential apartment. The woman was not related to the child and had fired the gun at least once by the time of the report, according to a report by KTLA.

Arriving officers found the woman standing on the apartment’s balcony and allegedly holding the caller at gunpoint. She also pointed the gun at police, KTLA reported, before returning inside the apartment and pointing the gun at the child.

Police entered the apartment and at least one officer shot at the woman, but she refused to drop the gun and continued pointing it at the child. Officers shot her a second time, killing her, before taking the child from the apartment unharmed.

She was later identified as 35-year-old Darvet Brown, a San Bernardino resident, KTLA reported. Brown’s “behavior is not fully understood at this time,” police said.