The aunt of a Florida woman shot by a Bradley County deputy after police say she slashed him with a knife Saturday said the whole family is in shock over what happened.
“We’re all surprised here. I was just hoping it wasn’t true,” said Sylvia Foster, the aunt of Armetta Foster, 30, of Sanford, Fla.
Armetta Foster died at Erlanger hospital Saturday after crashing the police cruiser she stole from a deputy on Interstate 75 in Cleveland, Tenn., authorities said.
She died of gunshot wounds, according to Kristin Helm, spokeswoman with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is heading the investigation.
Authorities said Saturday that several motorists reported seeing a woman and two children walking north on I-75 at mile marker 22. Deputy Dustin Patrick was sent to check on her. As he was talking to her, she pulled a knife and began slashing at him, cutting him on the hand, officials said. Foster ran to his cruiser, leaving the children behind, and Patrick fired his service weapon. She drove away but crashed the car through a fence and into a tree.