Coroner identifies woman shot and killed by Evansville police officer

EVANSVILLE — A woman who was shot and killed by an Evansville police officer Wednesday evening was armed with an airsoft gun modeled after a Smith and Wesson revolver, officials said Thursday during a news conference.

The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office identified the woman as 34-year-old Christina McKinney. The Evansville Police Department has not publicly named the officer who shot her. The shooting occurred in the 1700 block of South Evans Avenue at 6:09 p.m. Wednesday and followed two separate police runs to incidents McKinney was reportedly involved in.

Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, EPD spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray said the first run occurred at 5:42 p.m. in the 600 block of Cross Street when workers at a nearby apartment complex alerted officers to "disorderly conduct."

"The caller stated subjects were fighting and threw a fish tank out the door," Gray said. "Around 5:55 p.m., the responding EPD officer arrived on scene and made contact with a female who was walking out of an apartment. She told the officer everything was fine."

When the officer attempted to speak with McKinney, who was located inside the apartment, McKinney reportedly slammed the door in his face. The officer left the scene after noting that there were no apparent injuries to any involved party, according to Gray.

About seven minutes later, Evansville-Vanderburgh Central Dispatch received a second 911 call reporting that McKinney had armed themselves with what appeared to be a handgun and had begun walking toward a park.

"Keep in mind this was 6:02 p.m. and there were a lot of people outside during this time," Gray said.

Six minutes after dispatchers received the second 911 call, an EPD officer encountered McKinney in the 1700 block of South Evans Avenue — a residential street. According to body-worn camera footage released by the EPD, the officer stopped his squad car, got out and took cover behind the driver's door.

"Do you mind stopping?" he is heard asking calmly as McKinney stands yards away in a patch of grass. "Do you mind coming here? Ma'am, come here."

About 25 seconds after the officer first exited his vehicle, McKinney is seen slowly walking toward him as he instructs her to sit on the hood of his squad car.

McKinney appears to say, "I'm not; I'm not privy to what you are asking," while she walks in the direction of the officer with a basketball under her right arm and her left hand concealed inside a jacket pocket.

At 6:10 p.m., according to a timestamp seen in the body camera footage, the officer issued a command: "Ma'am, stop reaching."

Seconds later, he pulls out his handgun and calmly orders McKinney to "stop reaching" a second time. McKinney appears to say, "Uhm," as she reaches into her pocket and produces what appears to be the airsoft gun, which Gray said the officer believed to be a real firearm. In one fluid motion, McKinney moved the replica gun behind her back.

As the officer holds his pistol with one hand and points it at McKinney, she appears to flash the airsoft gun and is seen holding it down at her side. The officer is heard speaking into his radio, telling backup units to "step it up." McKinney appeared to move the airsoft gun behind her back again.

At 6:10 p.m. and 11 seconds, the officer issued another command to McKinney: "Drop the gun!"

McKinney does not drop the replica weapon and appears to say, "I don't," but her words were cut off when the officer fired two shots at her from close range. McKinney is then seen collapsing to the ground. According to police, she fell on top of the airsoft gun.

Gray said in the seconds before the officer fired his weapon, McKinney appeared to "bring her arm up in a motion as if (she was) lifting the gun."

Additional units arrived on scene moments later and an officer is heard repeatedly instructing McKinney to "roll over." Officers then searched for a "ballistic shield" in an attempt to make an approach, but at 6:13 p.m., the footage shows the officer who fired his weapon walking toward backup units while McKinney continued to lay in the grass. She does not appear to move.

Gray told reporters Monday that officers ultimately used a police dog to move McKinney's body off of the airsoft gun before police and paramedics attempted to perform live-saving measures. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident marks the fourth time a law enforcement officer shot and killed a person in Vanderburgh County so far this year. In March, the police shot a 37-year-old man who had allegedly barricaded himself inside a home while armed with an airsoft gun.

Gray: Officers believed all-black airsoft gun was a real firearm

Before Gray showed reporters and the public several minutes of the body camera footage, she first directed attention toward the airsoft gun. On a table in front of a lectern, the EPD had laid out three images of the replica firearm that officers allegedly seized from McKinney.

The images showed an all-black, revolver-style weapon inscribed with the words "Smith and Wesson."

Airsoft guns can use compressed air, a spring, or an electronic motor to fire small, plastic BBs at several hundred feet per second. The guns are designed to be shot at people during recreational games, similar to paintball guns.

"Does anyone in here think that this looks like a real gun?" Gray asked. "Because to me, as a police officer, this looks like a real gun."

Next to the photos of the replica Smith and Wesson, the EPD had placed an example of a revolver-style airsoft gun that Gray said officers had seized from a juvenile during a prior incident. Gray picked the airsoft gun up and displayed it to the assembled media.

"This gun I'm holding in my hand is an airsoft gun and it looks almost identical to the gun that was recovered at the scene," Gray said. "And as you can tell in the pictures and on this one, there are no indications, no markings on it that says that it's a toy... Officers are very familiar, obviously, with firearms. And yes, that looks like a real gun to us."

As of Monday morning, Gray was unsure if the airsoft gun McKinney allegedly possessed was loaded with BBs or compressed air at the time she was shot and killed.

The shooting is still under investigation

Officials have not publicly named the officer, though Gray said he was an experienced member of the department. Per EPD policy, officers who are involved in shootings do not have to provide a sworn statement for at least 72 hours after the incident.

"What happens is our investigators, they put together a case file, and we submit that to the prosecutor's office," Gray said. "At this time, we're behind the officer."

Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: EPD: Evansvile woman shot, killed by officers armed with 'airsoft gun'