WOMAN SHOT DEAD BY COPS FOR REFUSING TO ANSWER CENSUS QUESTIONS

R.I.P.


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A woman was shot by two police officers late Thursday in south Yuba City after she approached them with a shotgun and refused to put down her weapon, according to a department press release.

Victoria Helen Roger-Vasselin, 67, was shot by two Yuba City officers and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were called to the 700 block of Mariner Loop after a U.S. Census worker was confronted by residents who pointed a firearm at the worker and said they would not answer any questions.

When officers arrived, a man identified as Lionel Patterson, 51, answered the door armed with a handgun. As the officers dealt with him, Roger-Vasselin approached with a shotgun and ignored the officers' orders to put down the weapon. She advanced and continued to point the shotgun at the officers in a threatening manner, at which point the officers fired their service weapons.

The two officers, whose names weren't released by the department, have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the Sutter County District Attorney's Office.

Neighbors reported hearing four gunshots at about 10:20 p.m.

"We heard four loud bangs. We were about half asleep. It was so loud," a neighbor said. "In this kind of neighborhood, nothing like this ever happens."

Roger-Vasselin's family members, including her children and grandchildren, were waiting outside the home after the shooting.
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