WEYMOUTH — A local police officer shot a distraught 46-year-old woman who refused to drop a knife late Sunday morning outside a unit in the Tammy Brook Apartments complex, authorities said.
The woman, who was not identified, survived the shooting and was under arrest at South Shore Hospital, Weymouth police said in a statement. She has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.
Weymouth police received a 911 call just after 11:30 Sunday morning from the woman’s mother, who said her daughter was attempting to kill herself with a knife, the department said.
The woman was “hysterical” and holding a large blade when an officer arrived at the apartment on King Avenue, police said.
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She allegedly approached the officer while brandishing the knife, which forced him to back away from the first-floor apartment and toward the street.
The woman ignored orders to drop the knife, police said, and the officer fired once, wounding the woman in the abdomen.
Weymouth police detectives are investigating the shooting with help from State Police assigned to the Norfolk district attorney’s office, the department said.
Kevin, a neighbor who asked that his last name not be used, said he had been startled to hear a gunshot while watching television on his sofa and had come outside to see the woman lying on the ground.
Kevin said he tried to speak with the woman and reassure her that she would be all right, but she appeared to be unconscious when he approached her.
“I feel sick to my stomach about the whole thing,” he said.
Kevin said the woman was very small, “probably 90 pounds soaking wet,” and he was upset that the officer had not used less dangerous means to resolve the situation, especially during a time of heightened concerns about police shootings of civilians.
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Globe correspondent Bret Hauff contributed to this report. Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.