Harrowing moment 17-year-old girl attempts ‘suicide by cop’ by forcing them to shoot her before officers perform CPR as she cries for their forgiveness: ‘I’m so so sorry’
California police body camera footage shows a bleeding and crying 17-year-old girl apologizing to the officer who shot her three times after the teen dared him to open fire after she deliberately ran at him with a 6-inch kitchen knife .
An officer responded to reports of a girl causing a disturbance behind Carl Jr.’s fast food restaurant. on North Rose Avenue in Oxnard with a 12-inch knife in her pocket.
Oxnard Police Chief Scott Whitney described the 2019 confrontation in an edited video package posted online by his department.
The young woman involved, who has not been identified, survived the shooting and five years after that traumatic day, she started helping police officers with their training after taking responsibility for her actions.
“This is not your typical officer-involved shooting. A 17-year-old girl attempted suicide by cop. She was shot 3 times. The officer saved her life. “This young woman is now sharing her experiences with police officers to help them understand what is going on with someone who wants to commit suicide by cop,” the Oxnard Police Department posted online.
This photo was taken from May 3, 2019 police video released by the Oxnard Police Department showing an officer shooting a 17-year-old girl armed with a knife in California
The girl, center, is seen standing next to officers who have undergone training to prevent incidents of ‘suicide by cop’
‘After I fell, I was more or less thrown back into my normal thinking state. That’s why I apologized profusely. I didn’t apologize for getting shot. “I apologized for hurting this officer and making him fear for his life,” said the young woman, who is now 22.
“I hate to say this, but when he said something bad is going to happen, I felt like he gave me the pass [for him to shoot me and end this].’
The woman involved recovered from her injuries and has since focused on improving her mental health while facing Officer Timothy Roberts.
She has spoken out about the importance of dealing with mental health issues and has also spent time talking to police officers about her experiences, hoping they would gain understanding and insight into what could happen to someone who may be attempting suicide committed by an officer.
“In a lot of these situations, the person in my situation is not alive,” she said. “I feel like it is my duty, as someone who has lived, to promote mental health awareness.”
The teen said she had a history of suicidal thoughts and had previously attempted suicide. She said she thought involving the police would be a more effective method, but she now regrets the decision.
“I feel guilty about that assumption because there is a police officer there to help,” the young woman said. “To want to change them to harm someone in their community that they are sworn to protect is terrible.
“I don’t want this man to live with the guilt. I didn’t want anyone to get upset about that,” she continued.
“It was frustrating that I couldn’t move, and it was frustrating that I was alive. “It was frustrating not being able to talk to Officer Roberts,” she said.
Officer Roberts said he didn’t realize at the time it was a suicide attempt.
“It’s impossible to know at this point,” Roberts said. “She didn’t show any evidence of that in what she said.”
An officer responded to an empty lot behind a Carl Jr.’s in response to multiple calls allegedly made by the teenage girl reporting a disturbance caused by her
During the harrowing incident, Oxnard Officer Roberts’ body camera records him warning the girl not to reach for the gun.
“Why, what happens if I reach for it?” asks the girl, who is wearing a red shirt, blue shorts and sneakers.
“Then something bad is going to happen,” said Roberts, who was with the Oxnard force for four years at the time.
The camera then shows him turning away from the teen in a parking lot as he orders her to drop the knife.
The girl ignores his orders and continues walking towards him. “Come on, shoot me,” she says to the officer standing at a distance with his gun drawn. “I’ve been waiting all day.”
“Drop it,” the officer orders.
“No,” the teen answers.
When she suddenly starts running towards Roberts with the knife in her right hand, he shoots her several times and she falls to the ground.
The officer in the video repeatedly orders the young woman to throw away the knife, but each time she refuses
Police say the teen was armed with a 12-inch kitchen knife at the time of the incident
In the video, the 17-year-old can be seen challenging the officer and daring him to open fire on her
The officer backs away until the girl starts running, prompting him to shoot her three times
The teen falls to the ground, bleeding and writhing in pain
Two officers are then shown administering first aid to the girl while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
“I’m so sorry,” the teen says as he lies panting and writhing on the sidewalk.
“It’s okay,” an officer responds.
The two officers are seen in body camera footage showing the girl’s injuries, including gunshot wounds to the chest and thigh.
Officer Roberts and his partner continue to provide first aid to the girl
The girl repeatedly apologizes to police while being treated for gunshot wounds
The second officer arrived moments before the shooting and prepared to use a beanbag gun in an attempt to subdue the girl, police said.
Roberts had worked for the Oxnard Police Department since 2015 and was assigned to the Patrol Division.
Further investigation revealed that multiple 911 calls had been made that morning reporting a disturbed woman armed with a knife, while the calls were coming from the teen’s own phone, leading them to believe that she had “deliberately planned to was to be shot by an officer’.