Woman shot by police in 'suicide by cop' killed by single bullet

Ann Sanderson, 37, was shot by an officer after police received reports of a woman armed with a gun in Sevenoaks, Kent, in the early hours of Monday.

Today, an inquest was opened and adjourned at Tunbridge Wells Magistrates' Court as an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) continued.

Scroll down for more...

Bill Stone, the IPCC's deputy senior investigator, said in a statement that Kent Police headquarters received reports of a woman armed with a handgun in Sevenoaks town centre.

Police units were deployed to the scene and following a stand-off, a single shot was discharged by police towards Ms Sanderson, a store manager and supervisor.

Mr Stone said London-born Ms Sanderson, of Bethel Road, Sevenoaks, and known as Tosh to her friends, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Home Office pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination confirmed she died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, Mr Stone added.

Scroll down for more...

Mr Stone said: "The circumstances of the incident are that at approximately 1.20am on Monday morning, Kent Police force headquarters were alerted to the presence of a female who was apparently armed with a handgun in the town centre of Sevenoaks.

"Police officers were deployed to the incident, including two armed response vehicles. Ann was located and challenged by armed officers.

"As a result of this encounter a single shot was discharged by an officer at Ann at approximately 2.55am.

"Ann was pronounced dead by Kent ambulance trust paramedics at the scene at approximately 3am.

"A post-mortem examination was carried out on June 12, 2007 by David Rouse, a Home Office forensic pathologist. Cause of death has been determined as a gunshot wound to the chest."

Before this shooting, the only woman to have been shot dead by police since 1980 was 16-year-old Gail Kinchin.

She was accidentally killed that year by West Midlands police while she was being held hostage. North West Kent coroner Roger Hatch adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.

Scroll down for more...

Last Sunday, it seemed her demons had struck again as Miss Sanderson went on a destructive spree in Sevenoaks.

She was seen shooting at CCTV cameras and a restaurant window in the town's High Street before armed police were despatched.

Witnesses said they heard shouting during a 20-minute stand- off, followed by a single gunshot at about 3am on Monday. It is far from clear what prompted Miss Sanderson's final tragic actions.

One of her neighbours believes she may have taunted police because she wanted to kill herself.

Vivian Bain said: "She had a great character, she was a lovely person.

"She was helpful whenever there was anything I couldn't handle, like when my smoke alarm needed fixing.

"You can only think something tragic had happened to her or she was having some kind of mental breakdown.

"If you have some sort of mental breakdown you could want to be shot. It's like stepping in front of a car."