Woman Fatally Shot by Deputy

An elderly woman who telephoned the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday night to report vandalism, then lunged at deputies with a pitchfork and butcher knife, was shot and killed by a deputy, authorities said.

The woman made repeated threats to the first deputy who responded to the call on the 21000 block of Rhea Lane in the unincorporated community of Nuevo -- prompting him to call for backup, said Sgt. Earl Quinata, a department spokesman.

“There was no indication of the vandalism she reported, and she was acting very strange and irrational,” Quinata said.

The woman’s name was withheld by authorities because her next of kin had not been notified of her death. Authorities would not give her age.

The woman, alone in the home, armed herself with a pitchfork, poking it toward a window in the direction of a deputy, Quinata said. Deputies then entered the house to assess the woman’s welfare, but she charged at them with the pitchfork and a knife, he said.

Fearing for the deputies’ safety, one deputy shot the woman, Quinata said. The woman died at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

In keeping with department policy, the deputy who fired his weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the shooting. It is the third fatal officer-involved shooting by a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy within a month.