BOSTON — An Easton police officer shot and killed a 56-year-old woman who had pointed what appeared to be a rifle at officers before the gunfire, according to police.

Sunday’s fatal police shooting is under investigation after an officer shot to death Marianne Griffiths, who had actually aimed a pump action BB gun at the officers.

On Sunday morning at around 11:30 a.m., the Southeastern Regional Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from an Ashland resident requesting a well-being check for his mother in Easton. The caller said his mother, Griffiths, had told him that she had injected herself with a dangerous amount of insulin in an attempt to take her own life.

When Easton police officers arrived at the Spooner Street home, they saw Griffiths and other family members. After a brief discussion with her, she ran downstairs and threatened that she would shoot the police and herself, police said.

The officers inside evacuated the other people in the home and exited the residence. Then Griffiths ran back upstairs, approached the front entry way to the home and pointed what appeared to be a rifle at the officers, who were now standing outside the home. An officer then fired one shot, before retreating to cover.

Griffiths was struck once in the chest and died. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Once police reentered the home, they secured the gun that Griffiths was holding, which turned out to be a pump action BB gun.

Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Bristol County district attorney’s office and prosecutors are investigating the shooting.

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