JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman is dead following a deputy-involved shooting in Hilliard Wednesday, according to the Nassau County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say the incident happened on Barbara Lane around 2 a.m. No deputies were injured in the incident.
NCSO say they were initially called out in reference to an ongoing domestic incident involving a 47-year-old woman who was threatening to harm herself.
Family members told deputies that Donna Dale stormed out of the home with a knife and was threatening to kill herself.
Deputies say that they began searching for Dale on the property amidst thick brush and palmettos. At one point, deputies say they could hear her moving around and then it got silent.
One of the deputies say they were able to locate Dale and attempted to persuade her to come out. However, she refused. NCSO says deputies had to pull back some of the brush in order to made contact with her. When they did, they say she appeared to have a rifle in her hands.
Deputies say Dale then said that they 'would have to kill her' and appeared to point the weapon at herself. Deputies say they fired one time, and she later died.
"They noticed she had a dark barrel rifle in her hands," said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper during a press conference Wednesday afternoon, "she put that barrel in her mouth, then pointed the weapon at deputies, he shot one time, she died at the scene."
Family members offer a different perspective. They claim deputies dragged Donna out from underneath bushes, near the driveway, and shot her there.
First Coast News has requested bodycam information related to this incident and will provide that footage when it becomes available.
NCSO says it was later discovered that the rifle she was holding was a BB-gun that appeared to look like a real firearm in the dark.
Both deputies and family members confirmed that Dale was previously Baker Acted in December 2022 due to an incident that happened at the same address where Dale was shot early Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday night, hours before the shooting, Dale was involved in a one vehicle accident in which she drove her car off the road on Highway 200 in Nassau County.
Donna's family asked for privacy in this time until the deputy worn body camera footage is released. She is survived by her three children, ages 10, 11 and 25.
Deputy Christian Copher is the deputy who fired the shot that killed Dale and is currently on administrative leave while an investigation takes place. Copher has been with NCSO since 2015 and this is his first deputy-involved shooting.
"Nobody wants to do this, it's traumatic for everyone," said Leeper when referring to the deputy firing the shot at Dale, "it's unfortunate that someone died, but I'm thankful the deputies are not hurt. It's not something they look forward to doing, but they have to protect themselves and that's just what he was doing."
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