Cedar Rapids police say an officer shot a woman early this morning after a vehicle chase. Police spokesperson Sergeant Cristy Hamblin says it happened after an officer tried to make a traffic stop at 2:30 a.m.
The vehicle did not stop for about a mile and a half, prompting the chase. The driver, who was alone in the car, pulled over in 200 block of 27th Street Northwest. Two officers approached the vehicle.
“As officers were walking up to the car, the female driver displayed a handgun,” Hamblin said. “The driver eventually was shot. She was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital where she died from her injuries.” The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has been called in to investigate the shooting and few other details about the incident are being released.
Hamblin could not say if one or both officers fired their weapons, how many times the driver was hit or if the driver fired her gun. Witnesses reported the officers asked the woman to put down the gun and then heard three shots.
Hamblin said she could not confirm those reports. Neither officer involved in the shooting was injured. No names have been released.