Woman shot by police in Petworth suffered from mental health issues, family says

New details about deadly police involved shooting

A Northwest neighborhood remains in shock after a woman is shot and killed by police after investigators say she shot a neighbor and smashed in another neighbor’s door while wearing a special police officer’s uniform that wasn’t hers.

WASHINGTON - A Northwest neighborhood remains in shock after a woman – wearing a special police officer’s uniform that wasn’t hers – was shot and killed by police on Friday.

D.C. police identified the woman killed as Erica Graham, 42. Investigators say Graham shot a neighbor and smashed in another neighbor’s door before she was shot near her home on the 800 block of Crittenden St. in the Petworth neighborhood.

Police said the woman Graham shot is expected to recover, and it’s still unclear what happened between them before the shooting.

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The man whose door was smashed didn’t want to be identified but said just before 6 a.m. he was woken up by gunshots and then his glass door shattering.

"Looked and saw a silhouette of somebody banging on it," he said. "Saw glass flying out, had to call 911. After that, the banging stopped. I looked out the door and saw police out here with bullet shields and stuff like that, and they said, ‘Get back in the house. Everybody back in the house.’"

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He said he’d seen Graham before and would say hello to her, but didn’t even know her name.

People who knew Graham, including family, have said she struggled with her mental health.

Police said she was wearing a special police officer uniform with someone else’s name on it, and she was not a special police officer, although she had recently started working for a security company.

Graham‘s mother said her daughter leaves behind three children. She said the youngest is just four years old and still doesn’t know mom is gone.

FOX 5 also spoke to Graham’s cousin following the shooting Saturday.

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"For me to come over here and see my cousin for five hours laying in the street — I don’t know what happened, but I need to know what happened," said Anthony Perry, Graham’s cousin.

Police Chief Robert Contee said officers told Graham to put down the gun and get on the ground before she was shot.

That officer who shot Graham is now on paid administrative leave.

There is police body-worn camera footage that’s expected to be released this week.