Family and friends remember pregnant woman shot dead by police

One officer calls for backup saying that they were dealing with "a woman with two knives".

An African-American mother was fatally shot by Seattle police Sunday morning after she called them for help.

Family members told the Seattle Times that they believe that race was a factor in Lyles' death.

Both police officers were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Police Detective Mark Jamieson said on Sunday that Lyles had been arrested earlier this month by officers responding to another call after she had armed herself as protection against her boyfriend. She let them in and then she started talking all insane about how she, the officers weren't gonna leave. Lyles's sister, Monika Williams, told the Seattle Times.

Seattle police have released the dashboard audio from the June 18 incident that killed Charleena Lyles. The other officer responded, "I don't have a Taser". But Lyles' family have criticized officers' decision to use deadly force, as opposed to less-lethal options like a taser. Several children were also present but were not injured, police said. Lyles' brother, Michael Taylor, spoke to them: "This is my family and we're going to be as one", said Taylor.

Police on Monday released audio of the officers discussing a previous encounter with the woman before they reached the apartment. "I could have taken her down".

Officials also say the officers had at least one less-lethal way to handle the woman who they knew had a previous volatile encounter with law enforcement and had been having mental health issues.

The footage, which is from the officers' dash cam and from a camera in the hallway outside the woman's apartment, does not show the Sunday shooting.

Before arriving, police were told of an increased risk to officers. Family members later identified the woman as Charleena Lyles. Lyles' family is concerned for her and they have a strong: "desire to stabilize her mental- health condition before it qets (sic) worse".

The Seattle Education Association says they will be wearing Black Lives Matter shirts Tuesday with a rally in Lyles' honor at Garfield High School at 12:30 p.m.

Shooting and killing a pregnant woman, with known mental health challenges, in front of her young children, should only happen as an absolute last resort.

After the conversation, dashcam footage from the squad auto shows the officers walking into the building.

The shooting is now the 453rd person to be fatally shot by USA police this year, according to a database gathered by the Washington Post.

Furthermore, police forces all over the world are creating very simple solutions to help disarm people with knives or scissors, which Lyles was allegedly holding during a separate incident on June 5.

Both officers fired their weapons. "Get back! Get back!" before an eruption of gunfire. At 9:38, one of the officers' arms can be seen in the doorway.

In a statement Sunday afternoon, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray described the shooting a "tragedy for all involved". "This will be fully investigated", he said.

In a 2012 Department of Justice investigation, the Seattle police specifically have been found to routinely engaged in excessive use of force, often against people with mental or substance abuse problems.

A court-appointed monitor overseeing use-of-force reforms has found that in responding to roughly 10,000 incidents a year in which people are in behavioral crisis, Seattle officers use force just 2 percent of the time.