INDIANAPOLIS -- Pamela Brodie Wooden knows her son was sick. That's why, she says, police should have acted differently when they were called to a fateful encounter with him this weekend.
Indianapolis police officers say they were forced to shoot 25-year-old Christopher Goodlow after trying unsuccessfully to get him to drop a knife he was brandishing. Two attempts to Taze Goodlow failed. When he lunged at officers with the knife, they fired, killing him.
MORE | IMPD Chief: Officers tried to avoid deadly force | Family says man killed in police-action shooting had mental illness
Wooden says her son suffered from schizophrenia, and may not have been taking his medications properly.
"Christopher is not a bad person," she said. "He was sick from his mental illness, that's the only thing. I need answers, 'cause I really feel that the police department could have handled this a better way. I don't care if they were trained or not, they could have handled this in a better way with my son."
IMPD Chief Rick Hite said he spoke with Wooden's family directly on Saturday following the shooting.
The officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave, per department procedure.
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