Bossier, LA — Police Officer Patrick Edmonds Jr., who is Black, fatally shot Shannon Rupert, a 45-year old white woman, in a Louisiana hotel after she threatened and tried to attack him with a pair of scissors while screaming racial slurs at him. Edmonds, however, has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
A disturbing video of the incident showed Rupert threatening the police officer, who was trying to stop her. Edmonds can be heard repeatedly asking Rupert to put down the pair of scissors she had been brandishing to other people in a hotel lobby, but Rupert refused.
“You’re going to have to shoot me, n—–. You’re not taking them. Shoot me,” Rupert said before charging towards Edmonds with scissors in her hands.
Edmonds shot her twice, killing her. The local police department said that after the bodycam footage was reviewed, Edmonds was cleared from any wrongdoings in connection to the incident.
In a statement, the District Attorney also stated that Edmonds did not commit a crime as “his actions constituted justifiable homicide.” He has been placed on administrative leave pending the result of the investigation by the Internal Affairs Division.
Meanwhile, Melinda Peterson, Rupert’s cousin, was questioning why the police officer had to use lethal force and not use a taser instead. But Peterson admitted that Rupert had been using illegal drugs for long.
“I knew she had been into drugs really bad. I tried helping her. I tried talking to her to see if maybe we could get her some help, a recourse. Getting her into rehab or anything like that. She was just out of it,” Peterson told KSLA 12.