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A 19-year-old woman was shot dead by police after opening fire on a cop from her car during a Juneteenth parade in Flint, Michigan, has been pictured for the first time.
Police say Briana Sykes, 19, of Flint, fired the first shots at the officer, who was controlling traffic, before he returned fire and fatally wounded her.
Cell phone video of the confrontation posted online shows the officer slumping to the floor after the shooting and appearing to cry as he is attended to by colleagues.
It's not clear what led up to the incident between Briana and the officer.
But her sister, Nala McCracklin, 19, says she does not blame the police officer.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘I do feel horrible for the officer who did it and I’m not upset at him or anyone else. As well as the bystanders. Nobody deserves to see or experience that.’
‘I want to make sure people who are going through tough times know that therapy and counseling is okay.’
Nala said that Briana's boyfriend, who she did not name, had been k*lled in a shooting which did not involve police just three days earlier.
She added: ‘She wasn’t a bad person, nor violent.'
Witnesses told FOX 2 Detroit that the officer had no choice but to open fire after the woman drove up and shot at him.
The incident took place around 2:14pm on Saturday, when the unidentified officer was working traffic during the city's Juneteenth Celebration Parade.
The shooting took place during the Champions Parade, honoring community leaders and athletic greats from the city, MLive reports.
The Flint officer was 'fired upon by the lone occupant of a vehicle who drove up to him at the traffic point,' state police said on Twitter. 'Upon taking fire, the officer returned fire, striking the suspect.'
Video of the incident shot by a witness from a nearby car shows the officer engaged in a conversation with the woman.
It's not clear what led up to the initial exchange between the officer and Briana.
The video shows the officer demanding to see the suspect's hands.
Several gunshots can then be heard and the cop can then be seen firing several shots into the car, which begins to roll away as the witness claims a gunshot hit her own door.
The officer, meanwhile, can be seen on his knees, seemingly weeping as another officer comes to comfort him.
Briana was transported to the Hurley Medical Center for treatment after the shooting, where she eventually succumbed to her injuries.
No one else was injured Saturday, including the police officer involved in the exchange.
Briana was set to become a student in the fall, Nala stated.
Nala described Briana as 'a great friend, sister, daughter, cousin, and aunt and a wonderful girlfriend.'
It wasn't known yet why Briana shot at the officer, Lt. Kim Vetter of the state police said Monday.
Vetter told the Detroit Free Press that the officer has been placed on paid leave following the incident. They were not wearing a body camera and it's unclear if nearby police cars caught the incident on their dashcam.
'Evidence indicates she did shoot first,' Vetter said of the suspect. 'The bystander videos, we do have them and we are using them as part of our investigation.
'And there are other surveillance videos in the area ... that’s typical investigative protocol that they would be checking any other video that was available at that incident.'
Michigan State Police will investigate the incident, as it involved a Flint Police Department officer.
The parade had not yet reached the site of the shooting and was rerouted to avoid the area.
A witness told FOX 2 Detroit that the officer was doing his job and protecting the people in the parade.
'I feel like the police was doing his job he had a life to protect,' the witness said. 'Not only his, but we had a parade full of kids.'
'I kind of feel like him dropping, it was the devastation of the whole situation,' the witness added.
The female witness continued, 'I've been here all my life. I'm not going to say I'm used to it. You just try and stay safe. You can be anywhere literally, so you can just be safe wherever you are at.'
Flint resident Keith Lewis said the shooting was shocking on a day that commemorates the end of slavery.
'I was going to come down and get my lawn chair and sit down and really enjoy it. ... Oh, my goodness. All I can do is just pray,' Lewis told WNEM-TV.
Lewis added, 'I hope that eventually one day we'll all get it together and be able to have a nice celebration. I just send my thoughts out to Flint.'
WJRT reports the Michigan State Police is leading the investigation into the shooting, at the behest of the Flint Police Department.
After the investigation is complete, the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office will determine if charges will be filed in the shooting.
