Officer kills woman holding child hostage

A 21-year-old woman was fatally shot by police early Sunday after slashing her 4-year-old daughter and two officers with a box cutter, authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the shooting, said Hawthorne officers answered a family disturbance call shortly before 1 a.m. in the 14400 block of Lemoli Avenue, where they found Elaine Coleman in a bedroom and holding her daughter hostage with a box cutter.

The officers fired a Taser gun at Coleman to no effect after she refused to drop her weapon. When they tried to restrain her, she slashed her child and the officers, police said.

One officer fired two shots and Coleman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officers and child, whose names were not released, each required about 30 stitches at a local hospital. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.