HEARTBREAKING

Ohio Police Fatally Shoot 21-Year-Old Pregnant Woman

The police chief said Ta’Kiya Young pressed on the gas and drove toward an officer, prompting them to fire a gunshot through the front windshield.

An Ohio police officer shot and killed a pregnant 21-year-old woman on Thursday evening in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store, The Columbus Dispatch reports. In a statement released Friday, Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said an employee told officers multiple people, including Ta’Kiya Young, allegedly stole items from the store. While other suspects fled in their vehicles, police found Young in her car and demanded she step out of the vehicle, Belford said. But according to him, Young pressed on the gas and drove toward an officer, prompting them to fire a gunshot through the front windshield. Her vehicle continued launching about 50 feet forward onto the sidewalk in front of the store until the cops caught up, according to Belford. Although authorities reportedly began medical treatment immediately, Young later died at a local hospital. Belford claimed the officers did not know that Young, who was expecting to deliver a little girl in November, was pregnant. She leaves behind her 3-year-old and 6-year-old kids. “All I know is that my granddaughter was killed by the police,” Young’s grandmother said. “I thought she was grocery shopping.” The shooting is under investigation.