Woman with machete stabs 1 person inside Galveston shelter, is then shot by officer, police say

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A woman who had allegedly stabbed someone with a machete inside a Galveston shelter on Wednesday was shot by an officer responding to the chaos.

The Galveston Police Department was called to The Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County.

"This lady comes running around the corner. She said, 'Oh, some lady got stabbed with a machete,'" Ja'Cory Irving, who was visiting his aunt down the block, said.

According to police, after stabbing someone inside the women's shelter, the suspect turned to the street next.

"When officers arrived, they observed her chasing one or maybe more people down the street," Galveston Police Chief Douglas Balli said.

According to police, officers drove their vehicle towards her from both ends of the street. She ran up to the first car, hitting it.

"She's hitting my window with the machete," an officer can be heard saying over a radio call.

ABC13 learned that she turned to the next car, hitting its window. That officer pulled out his gun.

"Shots fired, shots fired, defender down," the office said over the radio.

From a video, it appears the officer fired through the windshield, and from the radio calls, we know she was struck at least once.

"She has a gunshot wound to the neck, bleeding profusely," an officer said on the radio.

The commotion brought neighbors to their front doors.

"We open the door and see all the police. We don't know what happened, but we see something on the floor: a woman, a man. We don't know," neighbor Aracelia Fuentas said.

Having seen enough, Fuentas pulled her mom inside and closed the door.

"I say, 'Mama, come on, come on,'" Fuentas said.

Investigators have not confirmed if the incident involved anyone connected to the shelter.

An investigation is underway with the involvement of the Texas Rangers, Galveston police said.

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