Mese Police Investigate Use of Force in Shooting of Woman

The officers were responding to a suicide call at Ms Jacobs’ Arizona home at about 11am yesterday when shots were fired, her mother, who has been identified only as Stacia, told New York Daily News.

In another video she sobs and says she’s distraught about learning vocational education workers wouldn’t continue to support her quest for a college education.

When officers made contact with her, she stated she had a knife and was going to hurt herself.

“She was trying to share the struggles some people with Asperger’s go through and to try to take the stigma away”, said Heather Allen, the founder of HALO Animal Rescue, a Phoenix-area organization where Jacobs had volunteered since she was 13. “I can breathe”, he said.

She added that people who knew her were questioning whether police shooting the young woman in the stomach was necessary. Allen said Jacobs asked her to take care of Sampson if something happened to her. “She had a knife”, Allen said.

Jacobs and police had one previous interaction, Flores said, a call in which she complained about internet harassment.

Jacobs lived in a “mother-in-law” apartment next to an older couple’s house.

Published June 1, the video had more than 2.5 million views and almost 1,500 comments, many that thank Jacobs for her courage and her attempt to raise awareness of the challenges of living with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

“They shot and killed a 24-year-old autistic, mentally ill individual whom they had been familiar with and were aware of her special needs'”.

Mesa police said they plan to hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Friday to discuss “new, developing information” in the shooting and things the Mesa police force is doing “to assist in dealing with and interacting with those with mental illness”, according to Mesa police spokesman Esteban Flores.

The video captured the heartwarming moments her dog Sampson stepped in to prevent her from harming herself.

They were not wearing body cameras.

No law enforcement officials were injured in the incident, and the officers involved were placed on administrative leave, which is standard for officer-involved shooting situations, reported ABC 15 Arizona.