DALLAS -- A police officer responding to a burglary call from a 70-year-old grandmother shot and killed the woman when she refused to drop a revolver, police said.
Etta Collins, a retired nurse and Sunday school teacher, was pronounced dead at 1:05 a.m. Sunday at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Officer M.E. Kraus, 34, fired at Collins twice early Sunday on her front porch, striking her in the chest and the arm. Police said he shot her because he was 'in fear of his life.'
The crimes against persons and internal affairs divisions of the Dallas Police Department are investigating. It was the 25th shooting of a suspect by a Dallas police officer this year and the ninth fatality.
A recent study by the Crime Control Institute of Washington put Dallas in third place among U.S. cities in the number of citizens killed by police officers per 100,000 population. New Orleans was No. 1 and Jacksonville, Fla., No. 2.
There were conflicting reports on whether Collins had fired shots at either Kraus or a support officer.
'The other officer said he thought she fired a shot at Kraus but all Kraus has indicated is that she had that gun pointed at him twice,' said police spokesman Ed Spencer.
After being shot, Collins retreated into the house. She was found lying on a couch with a .22-caliber revolver with five empty chambers by her side. Police said they have not determined how many shots were fired.
Neighbor Jerry Walter said Collins might not have heard Kraus when he identified himself.
'Mrs. Collins came to the door, and one officer yelled, 'Police,' but I think she thought he (Kraus) was the burglar, and she shot through the screen,' Walter said. 'Then he shot at her.'
