Harris County SWAT officers shoot and kill armed homeowner in Katy

Harris County sheriff's deputies were called to the home in the 20400 block of Blue Beech Drive for a welfare check on Thursday. They say a relative of the 54-year-old woman who lives there was concerned about her erratic behavior. When they arrived deputies say the woman was confrontational, belligerent, and armed with a gun.

The department's mental heath unit along with the High Risk Operations Unit were called to the scene.
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Thomas Gilliand says they tried to talk to the woman for hours but she would only threaten to hurt anybody that tried to enter her home.

When the High Operations Unit breached a window, Gilliand says the woman pointed a gun at an officer who fearing for his life fired at her. The woman whose name hasn't been released was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man who says he's been a neighbor of the woman's for 11 years told reporters she would routinely threaten to kill anyone who came near her home.

This is now being investigated as an in custody death with several agencies taking it under review, including the Harris County District Attorneys Office.