NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The woman inside a mobile in Newport News where a man was killed on Friday after being shot by police claims the man did not point his gun at officers.
"I'm not going to be the same for the rest of my life," said Michelle Ellers, the woman inside the mobile home. " I keep having nightmares about it. He should have gotten help."
Ellers said she can't stop thinking about the final moments shared with her former boyfriend David Noteboom, after the 41-year-old was shot by police on Friday.
"He wasn't trying to harm anybody but himself," Ellers said.
Police responded to a wellness check at a home the couple previously shared on Davis Park Dr. Thursday night.
On Friday, Ellers said she received a call from police asking if they could gain access to the trailer.
While she was no longer with Noteboom, she decided to check in on him.
"I just took it upon myself to check in on him because I was worried," Ellers said.
When she entered the mobile home, she said Noteboom was laying down with a gun and told her he didn't want to be here anymore.
"I fought with him, I begged,and pleaded with him for a good while, like a couple of hours to not kill himself and try to convince him otherwise," Ellers said. "I tried to get the clips off the gun which I managed to do."
Ellers said when police showed up the pair began to wrestle.
Ellers said Noteboom was not fighting back but she was just trying to stop him from pointing the gun at himself.
He eventually pushed her away.
"[He] put the gun all the way to the back of his throat and that's when I started screaming becuse I was begging him not to do anything," Ellers said.
According to a search warrant, officers were trying to deploy a robot into the trailer when they heard Ellers scream.
The warrant said the situation rapidly turned into a hostage rescue situation and officers made emergency entry into the trailer.
"Before I heard anybody come into the bedroom I heard the three shots," Ellers said. "I saw a bright light and I kinda fell to the ground and all I remember is them saying get her out, get her out, and I see him on the floor swaying back and forth."
Police said Noteboom pointed his gun at officers when they entered the room but Ellers said he did not.
"If he did I had already been on the ground and he was already shot," Ellers said. "He did not. He had that gun in his mouth."
Ellers said it wasn't until hours later she learned Noteboom had died at the hospital.
We reached out to police to see if there was any further information on the shooting but have yet to hear back.
"I just wanted to make sure that it's known that he wasn't hurting anybody, he wasn't hurting me, he wasn't violently struggling with me," Ellers said. "He was just begging me to get out so I didn't watch him do what he wanted to do."
The officers involved are on administrative leave, according to a release.
Police say that the investigation is ongoing.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call 988 to get assistance.
