A woman was caught on video standing in the middle of traffic, aiming a gun and shooting it in the air. NBC New York reports that after seeing the woman, a Long Island police officer hit her with a patrol car to help apprehend her.
Warning: The following video could be hard to watch for some viewers.
Authorities say the woman was standing in traffic with a handgun, aiming it at traffic and waving it around. She also fired it off into the air once. “It’s a loaded gun that she’s waving around in the traffic, pointing at people that have got their children and their families in their cars,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, according to NBC.
It’s after the woman pointed the gun at her head that a Nassau County officer struck the woman with his patrol car, sending her to the pavement. She was arrested and taken to a local hospital for minor injuries. The officer who hit her was also taken to the hospital for trauma.
“I never am going to Monday morning quarterback my cops. They did an outstanding job. They faced down deadly physical force against the civilians and themselves and they used their vehicle to stop their threat,” Ryder said. As for why the officer didn’t get out and fire a weapon to stop the woman, apparently, he was following protocol as Ryder explained.
Ryder says the officer told him he did not fire his weapon because if he missed, there were people standing behind the suspect.
“The officer made a sound decision, a very good decision, and because of it, they saved the lives of himself, others and the person with that gun” Ryder says.”
Authorities say the woman has a criminal history from possession of a handgun to menacing charges. She now faces multiple charges ranging from reckless endangerment to more menacing charges.