Girlfriend of victim in deadly police shooting speaks out

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The girlfriend of a woman shot and killed in her north Charlotte apartment Wednesday said she believes her girlfriend was trying to attack her, not the officers when one officer fired the fatal shots. She also said officers were far enough away that they didn’t need to shoot.

PAST ARTICLE: CMPD Chief: 20-year-old woman with knife shot, killed by officer

Kornesha Banks and her infant child were the only other people inside the apartment on Bellefonte Drive when Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Anthony Holzhauer shot and killed 20-year-old Janisha Fonville.

RAW: CMPD Chief Monroe talks about officer-involved shooting

She said she had met the officers outside and warned them that Fonville was unstable.

IMAGES: Police investigate shooting in northeast Charlotte

"I told them before they went in the house that she had a knife, but she was not going to hurt them," Banks said. "She just needed to go to mental health to be evaluated."

She said she followed the officers inside and was standing behind them when Fonville came toward them with the knife.

But she said Fonville was still six or seven feet away from the officers when Holzhauer fired two shots, hitting Fonville in the shoulder.

"He got scared so he shot her," Banks said.

The officers were working in a very confined space and that Fonville was in close quarters when Holzhuaer fired, police Chief Rodney Monroe said Thursday.

A spokesman for CMPD said they would not comment on Banks' version of events.

Police are still investigating the shooting and have not decided if they will file charges in the case.

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