83 y/o woman shot and killed by police...

in Altavista Virginia.

According to family members, an 83-year-old woman was shot and killed by an Altavista police officer Wednesday night. Family members tell WDBJ7 that Delma Towler called police because she thought someone was breaking into her home on 10th Street. Relatives say the 83-year-old was wandering behind her house. WDBJ7 has learned Delma may have fired a gunshot through her back door. She then left her house and tried to walk through her backyard to the home of her sister who, lives two doors away. Delma got all the way to her sister's back porch and that's when family members say she was shot by a police officer.

www.wdbj7.com...

Video on same link.

So police shoot and kill an 83 year old woman who called 911 thinking someone was breaking into her house. She did fire a shot out the back door before police arrived.

Her family is enraged being she was a church going woman who also went to walk a mile at the local YMCA 3 days a week.

IMHO, cops are getting out of hand...

S&F this s#it is getting out of hand.

i understand sometimes in the line of duty they need to use lethal force. but really? not everyone is a threat.

Originally posted by Dizrael
S&F this s#it is getting out of hand.

i understand sometimes in the line of duty they need to use lethal force. but really? not everyone is a threat.

How are they suppose to know who's firing at them..?

reply to post by dayve
When you are hunting, you make absolutely sure you can see your target clearly before shooting in order to avoid shooting another hunter. The same applies here for both parties, BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET before firing. I will say though, the police have had numerous hours of training and should have not shot this poor lady before assessing the threat.

Do they just shoot and kill robbers now? Don't they have to be in immediate danger in order to shoot them?

She may have shot through the back door, but they have no clue for sure who did.

Cops suck.

Not many details in the report, so no way to know what really happened here.

Still, hard to imagine a scenario in which the 83 year old homeowner deserved to be gunned down. I was taught from an early age to be certain of your target before pulling the trigger. Surely the officer did not know he was shooting an elderly woman, so why open fire without knowing what he was shooting at?

sad we all know what will happen next.. the murdering office will get *PAID* 'leave' aka vacation, while they "investigate" (which will take months).. then he will be cleared of any chargers and back to work in no time.

Meanwhile, when a cop gets killed by anyone, that person will get beaten before trail, sentenced in a month to life, and the cop will get a huge memorial.

reply to post by VikingWarlord


ESPECIALLY more so because they are ONLY firing at PEOPLE. Instead of an animal that COULD be a person. It seems that just about every other (if not almost every) day there is a new post about the police doing what they shouldn't do, shooting and arresting innocent people. I know stuff like this has to be going on around my area, but no one says anything. (media wise)

on a side note, my roomates friend once got a bin of dog sh*t left on her porch, she called the police and they said it was a civil matter and that they couldn't do anything about it. They also told her the same thing when someone broke into her home and threatened to kill her.. things are just getting out of hand.

A spokeswoman from the Virginia State Police says Altavista Police Officers made several attempts to determine if anyone was inside Delma Towler's home and then heard shots fired from inside. Officers took cover and watched her leave the house with a gun in her hand. They followed her as she walked up to another home. They approached Towler, and commanded her repeatedly to put down her gun. Officers say she refused and pointed her weapon at them. She was then shot and died at the scene.

Update from the same source.

So they follow a scared elderly woman and shoot her. SHE IS FRIGHTENED! Back off and talk calmly to her. Jeesh.

Hate it when this happens! :bnghd:

reply to post by Doodle19815


She pointed her weapon at the police, at that point the police officers have to make a choice.....they don't know if she is going to fire, it's her or them, a split second decision.

It's sad, but if the police story is true, then they were just protecting themselves.

Never underestimate a person just because of their age.

However, that cop should've used common sense first.

reply to post by thiefriverfalls
True, and I believe they should, at least, have had non lethal means of subduing a suspect in mind first. Instead they used "shoot first, ask questions later."

Originally posted by VariableConstant
Not many details in the report, so no way to know what really happened here.

Still, hard to imagine a scenario in which the 83 year old homeowner deserved to be gunned down. I was taught from an early age to be certain of your target before pulling the trigger. Surely the officer did not know he was shooting an elderly woman, so why open fire without knowing what he was shooting at?

I agree. It really is.

If you go by what the family says, this woman was not really a threat to anyone. She was of sound mind and was just frightened. No reason to shoot her dead at least not at the doorstep of her sisters door. Tragic.

It does illustrate that the cops took the stance of lethally shooting first and doing the paperwork later. I find it very hard to believe that this woman, even if armed was a threat that required the use of lethal force. For some reason I get the image of him screaming at her to drop her weapon which might have even frightened her even more to react and when she did, he shot her dead.

There just isn't something right about all this. I am beginning to wonder if we will ever know the truth behind this. On face it just doesn't make sense.

I am starting to believe the training is stand in the open near the person and if you see a gun them, shoot them.

reply to post by woogleuk


Star for ya, I understand where you are coming from. I really do.

But they followed her from her house. They knew that she was scared. Could they not have tazed her or something instead? (Although we would be reading how police tazed an elderly woman instead, I know.)

It is just tragic. I am sure the cop feels bad. We will never know the rest of the story

Originally posted by RealSpoke Don't they have to be in immediate danger in order to shoot them?

apparently not.

reply to post by Doodle19815


Well, no offense, but she did point a gun at them. She was scared and not thinking clearly so whos to say what she was thinking. I dont support police in any way,shape or form. But if you point a gun at me, Im going to shoot you.

reply to post by Doodle19815


Thanks.

However, as much as it would have been a better outcome, the police were facing a loaded gun, had she fired, one of them may have died. A tazer would not have hit in time, also, the tazer may have caused her muscles to tense and pull the trigger (see Raoul Moat incident in the UK), whilst it was aiming at the officers.

They had to make a tough call, but they still had to make it.

Pure BS. They followed her, knew she had a gun and was scared. They could have called someone trained who could talk to her and get her calm and disarmed.

Bad job by police, IMO. Times have changed.