A 93-year-old Texan woman has been fatally shot at her home by a police officer when after she allegedly brandished a gun.
Pearlie Golden, a longtime resident of Hearne who was affectionately known to her neighbors as Ms. Sully, was shot Tuesday night.
Officer Steven Stem has been revealed as the officer who responded to a 911 call about a disturbance involving a woman with a gun in Hearne, Texas.
The Hearne Police Department said in a written statement that Golden 'brandished a firearm' when Stem encountered her.
He then shot her multiple times and was taken to a hospital in nearby Bryan where she died from the injuries.
A revolver believed to be the weapon Golden had at the time of the shooting was found at the scene by officers, the statement said.
The investigation is being handled by the Texas Rangers.
'She did have a gun... Now, what she was doing with it, that is the ultimate question,' said Robertson County District Attorney Coty Siegert.
Mrs Golden had lived in the area for decades. She lived on her own in recent years because her husband- a former Hearne police officer- died before her.
City attorney Bryan Russ Jr. said the officer has been put on paid administrative leave as is standard protocol when an officer is involved in a shooting.
'What we believe is that she was instructed to drop the weapon, that is my understanding,' Russ said.
He could not comment any further because the investigation is ongoing.
This is the second time in as many years that Officer Stem has shot and killed someone in the area.
He killed Tederalle Satchell in December 2012 and was cleared by a grand jury, but Satchell's cousin Waymon Webster, who also knew Mrs Golden, said it is outrageous that the officer was allowed back on the streets.
'What are they going to do, let him go, so he can smile and hold another pistol? You know what I mean? It's not right,' Webster told local station KBTX.
Hearne is a town of about 4,500 people that's about 140 miles south of Dallas.
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