NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The woman who was shot by Newport News police on Saturday pulled a gun on and "pistol whipped" the person who was driving her while another passenger was in the car, according to the press conference about the incident from Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew.
Drew said that Monae Bonaparte, 38, had called a friend for a ride from Portsmouth to Newport News in the early hours of Saturday morning. Her friend organized a ride with a third person. The third person also picked up another person before getting Bonaparte.
During the ride, Drew said she became agitated and pulled a gun, directing the driver to go to a specific location.
Drew said police were unsure exactly what happened in that vehicle, but at some point, she jerked the wheel and eventually struck the driver with her firearm.
"She displaced a firearm and becomes aggregated. She orders the passenger out of the vehicle and instructs the driver to continue. The driver is instructed on where to drive. He was pistol whipped, struck by firearm," Chief Drew said.
Sometime after Bonaparte struck the driver, they crashed into a parked car, at which point she ran off. A number of reports were then made to Hampton police, both the driver of the vehicle and another passenger were among those that made reports of the incident.
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Shortly after that, police said they received reports of shots fired and learned that Bonaparte was seen armed in a state of agitation.
Drew said officers attempted to approach her and de-escalate the situation, forming a line due to a lack of cover in the area where they found her.
Officers said they attempted to have a conversation with Mrs. Bonaparte for roughly 12 minutes, during which time she called 911 herself.
Bonaparte spoke with the 911 dispatchers and requested they call her mother, while also making threats about what would happen if officers approached and threats of self-harm.
One officer reportedly moved in closer and created a line of sight. Police said that Bonaparte aimed her gun at that officer and then he fired.
"She makes threats on what would happen if officers approach her and threatened to hurt herself. Ms. Bonaparte points her firearm in officer’s direction and then officers fires," Steve Drew said.
"We received calls about windows struck. As officers arrive, they heard a gunshot," Drew said.
Officers immediately performed life-saving measures and transported Mrs. Bonaparte to the hospital where she died.
Neighbors said they first saw a car sideswipe other cars along 16th Street.
One neighbor, Danny Bartlett, spotted a car hitting his parked car on his security camera before the car drove down the street. He said he and a neighbor went outside to check out the damage.
"One of the cops had pulled out down the street there and we was just standing there waiting. Then we started hearing shots. And the cop told us, he was running up this way, 'you all go take cover because we have an active shooter,'" explained Bartlett.
He said he heard about five or six shots, but didn't see what happened next.
The Bonaparte family released the following statement on the loss of Ms. Bonaparte:
“She was a beautiful mother with a 9-year old daughter. Her daughter is now left without a mother. She has a heart of gold. She would give the shirt off her back.”
