A Phoenix woman who called the cops this morning reporting a "prowler" outside her apartment ended up being shot by an officer when she went at him with a butcher knife, police say.
Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump tells New Times the woman phoned in around 4:30 a.m. today about the "prowler" outside her apartment, near 9th Street and Devonshire Avenue.
An officer found just about the only guy outside the apartment building at 4:30 a.m., who told police he'd been banging on the woman's door for about 10 minutes -- because he lives there.
The man told police he'd just gotten back into town on a Greyhound bus, and the woman inside the apartment who wouldn't let him in is his girlfriend.
Crump says the woman wouldn't answer the door for the officer either, so the dispatcher dialed up the original 9-1-1 caller, confirming it's the same woman who phoned in about the "prowler."
When the dispatcher convinced the woman to go outside and talk with police, Crump says she did, but ended up bringing out a butcher knife with her.
While the woman was facing her boyfriend with the knife around chest level, Crump says the officer gave her commands to drop the knife.
Instead, Crump says she raised the knife up and came after the officer -- and that's how you get shot by police.
Crump says the officer believes he fired the gun twice, and at least one of those bullets hit her in the abdomen. She's currently in surgery.
Police aren't releasing the names of the officer or the woman, as Crump says police are still processing the scene of the shooting, and the officer may be the victim of an aggravated assault.
