Police said she entered the police station “brandishing a weapon,” so that apparently meant the three grown men with guns felt threatened enough to gun down the 17 year old mentally challenged girl in the lobby of the police station.
Police said that Kristiana Coignard entered Longview’s police station at 6.30pm on Thursday and asked to speak with an officer through the lobby courtesy phone. The teenager was still in the lobby of the police station when, according to police, she threatened the officers while wielding a weapon — reportedly a knife — and was shot “multiple times,” according to a local official.
Exactly what led three male officers to shoot Coignard dead is still unclear. The Longview police department has not released any further statements on the events.
Kristie Brian, spokeswoman for Longview Police, said that footage of the incident does exist, but is not available to the public, nor are records of the brief call Coignard made from the police department’s lobby. Brian did not confirm what type of weapon Coignard was allegedly threatening the officers with.
Heather Robertson, Coignard’s aunt, told ThinkProgress that her niece, who was living with her in Longview, had mental illness issues since her mother died when she was four. Robertson added that Coignard attempted suicide various times, but was taking medications, and that she did not have a criminal record or a history of violent behavior toward others.
“I think it was a cry for help,” Robertson said. “I think they could have done something. They are grown men. I think there is something they are not telling us.”
