AUGUSTA — A Kennebunk police officer who fatally shot a woman in March while responding to a call about a domestic dispute was justified in using deadly force, according to Attorney General William Schneider.
On March 27, Officer Joshua Morneau shot 39-year-old Katherine Paulson four times after she pulled a knife with an 8-inch blade from a holder and advanced toward him, according to the report released by Schneider’s office today.
When Paulson turned toward him with the knife, Morneau started moving backward while drawing his gun and ordering her to drop the knife, the report stated. She failed to comply with his continued commands to drop the knife, according to the report, and Morneau moved backward until he no longer could because of a physical obstruction.
Morneau fired four times when Paulson was about four feet from him and still advancing, according to the report.
Morneau and Sgt. Juliet Gilman were sent to the Notthingham Court home where Paulson lived with her elderly mother, Carol Paulson. Carol Paulson had called 911 to report that they were having a dispute and she was afraid about her well-being. Carol Paulson told the dispatcher that she wanted her daughter removed from the home but that she had not been assaulted that evening, according to the report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
