Police Kill Woman Holding Cat

GRESHAM, Ore. - Police shot and killed a woman who was holding her cat at knifepoint in a grocery store yesterday.

Janet M. Smith, 28, suffered from longstanding mental illness, said Duane Bigoni of the state Medical Examiner's Office.

Smith came into the store with her Siamese cat and a knife and sat down in an aisle, said Sgt. David Lerwick, a police spokesman.

Managers placed rows of shopping carts at either end of the aisle, moved bystanders away and called police. Officers asked the woman to drop the knife and she began threatening to kill the cat, Lerwick said.

The woman got up and began walking toward the officers, who sprayed her with pepper mace in an effort to stop her advance.

"She then raised her knife above her head and charged the police," Lerwick said.

One officer opened fire. The woman dropped the cat as she

collapsed.