Unless she's shooting at them, right?
It is a tragedy if the women was deranged and couldn't hear the police identifying themselves and calling for her to come out of the house. She must have thought that she was being broken into but, unfortunately, there is only one reaction when the police are being shot at.
managing a senior building ive seen some very scary moments whe sweet little old ladies have gone off and hit, shoved or pushed other residents and staff. An 80pnd 90y/o gave our pest control a split lip and a black eye because he said he didnt find any bed bugs when she knew they were there. the scary part of the incident was when we showed her the security footage she said it wasnt her!
You make a very good point. And who knows, maybe earlier that evening someone really did try to break into the poor lady's house.
That's why police should be required to turn on their cruiser lights before they approach a residence, especially at night.
Let folks know that it's really the police.