Police have released more information on shooting death of a 17-year-old girl at the Longview, Texas, police station, including surveillance footage of the incident. They had not released many details immediately following the incident, leaving questions about what had transpired.
Longview Police Chief Don Dingler on Wednesday said that Kristiana Coignard charged at police officers with a butcher knife before she was shot and killed last week, according to the Longview News-Journal. Police also said she had “I have a gun” written on her hand.
According to the surveillance footage, Coignard entered the station, called to ask for an officer, and waited for someone to arrive in the lobby of the police station. The incident occured at the edge of the surveillance camera field and does not include audio, making it hard to decipher exactly what took place.
The responding officer, identified as Glenn Derr, arrived and spoke to Coignard. She backed away from him, and he then pinned her to a bench on the police station. After a few minutes, Derr helped Coignard up off of the bench, but quickly tackled her to the ground facedown. Derr then stepped away and appears to have his gun drawn.
Two additional police officers, identified as Gene Duffie and Grace Bagley, arrived in the lobby of the station. Coignard then charged at Derr. Police claim that by this point, she had drawn a knife.
Police said that Duffie deployed his Taser, but it did not subdue Coignard. According to police, Derr fired his gun three times, and Bagley fired her gun twice. Coignard then fell to the ground.
Coignard’s aunt Heather Robertson, with whom the teenager was living at the time, told ThinkProgress that Coignard struggled with mental illness, including depression and bipolar disorder.
Watch the surveillance video via the News-Journal. Be warned, the video is graphic.
