Police in Charlotte say an officer shot and killed a man who was attacking a 13-year-old girl with a knife on Saturday night.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to a 911 call shortly before 7 p.m. after a man had reportedly forced himself into a home where the girl and her mother lived, the department said in a news release.
The mother was able to flee the house. When police arrived at the home on Blairbeth Street in the Ballantyne area, they reported finding the man holding a knife to the girl. According to the police department, officers tried to de-escalate the situation, but suddenly the man stabbed the girl. One officer shot the man.
“They were met with something that horrific, to see a 13-year-old getting stabbed, and they were left with no choice" but to shoot the man, The Charlotte Observer quoted Police Chief Johnny Jennings as saying. “The motive to stab a 13-year-old is something that is beyond comprehension for us.”
Preliminary reports indicate a man forced his way into his ex-wife's home during an altercation. The email go out of the house; however, her daughter was still inside. The man held the 13-year old female at knife point.
— CMPD News (@CMPD) December 19, 2021
The department says officers gave first aid to the man until Medic, Mecklenburg County's emergency services agency, arrived. Medic pronounced him dead on the scene.
The girl was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with what police described as life-threatening injuries.
The attacker was the ex-husband of the girl's mother, according to the police.
The name of the man who died was not immediately released by police, nor was the name of the officer who fired their weapon.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting by police. The officer is on paid administrative leave, per standard department procedure, as the shooting is investigated.