Woman killed by police officer involved in shooting in Coloma

COLOMA, Mich. (WSBT) — A police-involved shooting is under investigation after a woman died in a Coloma cul-de-sac.

The police have been on the scene for 12 hours.

The situation began shortly after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

A woman inside the home in the 200 block of Pearl Street told 911 dispatchers that someone was going to burn her house down, according to a news release sent by Berrien County and Coloma Township.

When police arrived, she pointed a long gun at them and made multiple threats to shoot police.

After trying to defuse the situation for more than an hour and a half, police resorted to less-than-lethal tactics. But the anonymous woman is now dead.

A less lethal shot was fired by police, which hit the woman in the chest.

First responders provided her with medical treatment on scene and transported her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A neighbor, 2 houses down, was awakened by the noise outside.

“I heard the police say, 'put your hands up, we've got you surrounded' and all that. It was crazy, and I was really scared and nervous,” the neighbor said.

The entire neighborhood was in shock as dozens of emergency vehicles were on scene with snipers and body armor.

“I looked out when I opened my door and I saw several police cars parked in front of me. And I had no idea what was going on. There were just more and more of them so I knew something and then I saw lights on the street, but I still didn't know what was happening,” said Patricia Culver, a neighbor.

Before Wednesday's events, many neighbors described the area as quiet.

The neighborhood is located between a middle school and a high school.

Is it weird to see this on your street?

“Very strange, I've lived here for 52 years, next door for 12 years, and never. It’s a very quiet neighborhood, there used to be a lot of kids, now there’s a lot of older people,” Culver said.

Michigan State Police are currently investigating, but the woman's name has not yet been released.