NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia prosecutor has cleared two police officers in the shooting death of a woman who was brandishing a replica handgun.
Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Underwood said in a report Wednesday that India Beaty pulled the fake weapon from her waistband as the Norfolk officers approached her March 19.
The officers had confronted the 25-year-old after she pulled the black replica handgun on a man in a shopping center parking lot. The report said officers identified themselves as police and that Beaty ignored their commands to get on the ground.
The report said officers shot Beaty after she lifted her shirt and grabbed the fake weapon. An autopsy revealed that she had cocaine and alcohol in her system.
The report does not provide the races of the officers. Beaty was black.