Elaine Coleman, 20

Elaine Coleman, 20, a black woman, was shot in the torso and arm by Hawthorne police officers at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 at 14427 South Lemoli Ave. in Hawthorne, and died in minutes.

The officers were responding to a family-dispute call, according to Sheriff's Det. Todd Anderson. He gave this account:

Coleman had locked herself in a room with her 4-year-old daughter and box cutters. She was refusing to come out.

Officers met her mother at the scene, and went to the door of the room. Coleman, apparently upset over a breakup, told them not to come in and threatened to kill her daughter. The officers, both men in their 30s, broke open the door. One fired a Taser, hitting Coleman.

The taser did not incapacitate her. Instead, Coleman began stabbing her 4-year-old daughter. The officers jumped on her. She stabbed them. Both were cut several times. In the midst of the melee, Coleman resumed stabbing her daughter. One of the officers then shot and killed her.

The daughter suffered four stab wounds, and was treated at a local hospital and released. The two officers were also both transported for treatment for stab wounds and released. "The officers were lucky to be alive. And if it wasn't for them, that child would be dead," said Anderson.

Comments

[k in l.a.1]

THIS IS ONE REASON WHY PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY THINK OF THE OUTCOME, BEFORE CALLING THE POLICE. DID ANYONE MENTION ON THE CALL TO POLICE THAT THE WOMAN HAD A MENTAL CONDITION? A POLICE OFFICER FEELING THREATENED= A GREEN LIGHT TO PROTECT HIMSELF , FELLOW OFFICERS AND THE PUBLIC. WETHER WITH A TASER OR WITH A 9MM.

[NorthE]

You have to be kidding me. Calling the police was the only rational response, especially in the case of a mental disorder. A mad woman in a room with a kid and a bunch of blades is not a situation to be handled by civilians. While it is tragic that a life had to be lost, it's clear that the officers acted correctly and saved a little girl's life. If they hadn't come, maybe she would have come to her senses, but when a child's life is in danger, that's not a chance worth taking.

[R.J.]

Truly a sad day in our world when a woman threatens to take her childs life over a "bad relationship"; Our kids need to be back in church,something has gone awry;seems to me, since the government has taken our right to chastise, as a result, our children & their children are out of control.We live in fear among chaos in our communities, Our babies are leaving this earth too young. the "violence" has to end!!!! For the mother who lost her child May God Bless you and comfort you in this tragedy. The woman who lost her life may you R.I.P! The baby needs to be surrounded by nothing but LOVE( she's seen enough abuse in one lifetime).

[L.A. Resident]

K in LA,
Did you read the story? The woman was stabbing her baby, if the woman had killed the baby you would be saying it was the cops fault the baby was killed. Use some common sense before you write a stupid comment. The police were called because the woman was saying she was going to hurt the baby and herself.

[Eve]

Im sorry this happened my heart goes out to her family. The police did there job the babies life was in danger and also the offiers where to.

[Mark]

Its unbelievable that some in the community blame the police for shooting her. She's stabbing her child, stabbing the policeman and a taser has no effect on her. What else are the police going to do? Its a shame she had to die, but it was her actions that put three people at risk.

And those community activists blaming the police are despicable. Pick your [rotests carefully!!!!!!!! All you are doing is getting publicity for yourself, but you are also proving to the rest of us that the minority communities are so dysfunctional, theres nothing that can be done.

[DIANA]

TO THE L.A.P.D :

A JOB WELL DONE! THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALWAYS PROTECTING US. THE L.A.P.S AND L.A.F.D AND OUR SOLDIERS ARE TRUE HEROES!

TO THE PEOPLE WHO DISAGREE AND WANT TO PROTEST AGAINST THE L.A.P.D. WHY DONT YOU GO PROTEST IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, I LIVE IN THE JUNGLES AND WELL THERES ALWAYS A HOMICDE THERE EVERY WEEK WHY DONT YOU START A RALLY OR A MARCH AGAINST THE PSTONES AND 18'S. WHY DON'T YOU USE YOUR VOICE TO KICK THEM OUT OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD. MAKE YOUR VOICE USEFUL FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. DON'T YOU AGREE.

[ruben]

I dont know all the facts of this story so i dont want to rush to judgement, but it looks like the police got it right this time, when theres a helpless child involved you do whatever it takes to protect this child.

[k in l.a.1]

L.A. RESIDENT, ON SEPTEMBER11@0421A.M. FIRST, GET SOME SLEEP AND SECOND READ MY COMMENT AGAIN BUDDY. BECAUSE NO WHERE DID I STATE IT WAS ANYONE'S FAULT FOR THE HORRIBLE INCIDENT THAT OCCURED. AND BESIDES, YOU DO NOT KNOW ME SO HOW CAN YOU GUESS WHAT I WILL OR WILL NOT SAY? MAYBE YOU'RE PSYCHIC .TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND CALM DOWN. REMEMBER, READING IS COMPREHENSION. SO MAYBE, YOU JUST CAN'T READ. LOSER.

[SICC OF IT]

MARK, SEPT. 11TH: SPEAK FOR YOURSELF.YOU TOO NEED SOME READING LESSONS. SLOW DOWN AND READ THE ENTRIES AGAIN. ANGER AND FINGERPOINTING WILL GET YOU NO WHERE IN LIFE.HINT: SHOW ME THE ENTRY THAT BLAMES THE POLICE. I CAN NOT SEEM TO FIND IT. NO ONE IS BLAMING THE POLICE. AND EVERYONE IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES ARE NOT DYSFUNCTIONAL. CHILLAX. YOU SEEM ANGRY, TOO! MAYBE, A LITTLE DYSFUNCTIONAL !!

[pHatomJournalist]

It just goes to show you that the masses(the majority participating in this blog)are easily swayed by the media. Todays(9/13/07) issue of the Los Angeles WAVE. "Conflicting accounts blur facts in police report". Before you pat our very own "Domestic Terrorists" on the back, consider another account.

Consider the facts; the LA Times went more into to the police report, than actual eyewitness accounts.
Had Elaine actually stabbed her 4 year-old as many times as indicated in the article, a quick E-Room visit and release would not suffice(a cut and a stab wound are two totally different things). Not to mention that a standard LAPD M18 Taser puts out 50,000 volts of electricity at 18watts. Thats enough to capacitate a 600 pound Grizzly Bear, much less a 130 pound human.

http://www.tbotech.com/taser-specifications.htm

You know what, it's up to you to decide what you believe not me. I just wish society as a whole would start making better decisions.

[Tony]

pHatomJournalist,

Just because a company makes claims about their product, does not mean that it works under all conditions. I have seen the taser NOT work on people under the influence of narcotics and those who suffer mental conditions. You also have to remember that those officers had precious seconds to make that ultimate decision. To believe that those officers went to that apartment solely to kill that woman is ludicrous.

[A Mother]

pHatomJournalist...my thoughts exactly.

[Tragicone]

Wow what were the police suppose to do let her kill the child or them could it have been solved yes but sometimes you dont have time to think what if you were the police what would you do?

[ruben]

Wow pHatomJournalist

Your post really makes me think twice ...I too found it hard to believe that police couldnt resolve this incident without killing her. Like I said before if this is exactly what happened the police did what they had to do, but YES you are absolutely RIGHT when you say it depends who is telling the story. I think an investigation should take place.

[mark]

Rueben...... the unfortunate woman snapped, knifed two policeman and HER OWN CHILD.

Whats there to investigate?

She was crazy, shown intent to harm everyone and unfortumatly had to be shot to preserve the life of her child.

The police deserve commendations for protecting that child!

[ruben]

Mark
AS I STATED if thats what happened YES all praise to the police for this great job and they did what had to be done, but were you there? Did you see what happened? Have you heard all the evidence? NO !! So all I was saying is they should look at witness testimony and ask questions from PEOPLE WHO WERE ACTUALLY THERE. I saw this on the news and all i kept hearing from the MOM (the lady who actually called the cops) was that she called the cops to help her calm her daughter down and get her out of the room, but like i said I DONT KNOW facts either so i dont want to rush to judgement.

[A]

In any police situation, people can question what happened and find holes in the story based on wording or whatever. It's usually enough to sway the public's mind into thinking the cops really did do something wrong, because the people who can give explanations aren't there at the time to defend.

For example, take the poster who said a quick emergency room visit wouldn't suffice for four stab wounds on a baby. What medical expertise do you have to say this? I have personally seen a baby with stab wounds and know that in LA county they can be treated at a local ER, depending on location on the body and type of wound.

Remember, the weapon was a box cutter. If you stab baby in an extremity, you're probably just hitting baby fat, minimal bleeding. If you stay it in the neck or eyes, you could then cause serious damage requiring a trauma center and hospital stay.

There are a million things people could say to question validity of the shooting, but each one would require someone who actually knows about the topic to answer. And even then, they'd be accused of being biased.

[A]

People, keep in mind, this all happened in close quarters and the officers actually tried to tazer the lady first, then go hands on, and only when they had been freaking stabbed and the lady was STILL trying to stab them and the baby did ONE of them shoot. I'm sure this all happened extremely fast, too with a lot of adrenaline. I doubt any of you could do better, without either getting killed yourself or having the baby die.... Why? b/c there weren't really any other options.

[b real]

TO DIANA IT WASNT LAPD IT WAS HAWTHORNE PD. I TOO AGREE WITH HER JOB WELL DONE

[darnesha hardman]

why did you kill my cuzin and her baby was right there my cuzin is not that big you could have stug her an got the box knife if she even had one thats why people hate yall know.