Police officers who killed Pacifica woman cleared of any wrongdoing

(KRON) – Two Pacifica police officers who killed an armed woman were cleared of any wrongdoing by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office on Friday.

Michelle Arrais, 50, was shot and killed by police officers on Francisco Boulevard near her home on March 27. Police were called to the area by Arrais’ son, who reported that his mother had shot him. The mother tried to flee the scene in a car when officers stopped her, prosecutors said. Arrais allegedly pointed a gun at both officers before she was killed.

After an investigation, “District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe concluded that there is no legal basis to file criminal charges against either of the two Pacifica police officers involved in Ms. Arrais’ death. The use of deadly force by Corporal Hayden Fry and Officer Kevin Contreras was legally justifiable self-defense and defense of others,” the district attorney’s office wrote.

The domestic violence incident began on the evening of March 26, when Arrais came home with a new gun. Her son told investigators he believed Arrais was suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia. “He told his mother he did not want to live in the apartment if she had a gun, but Michelle refused, saying she was given the gun for protection purposes,” the prosecutor’s report states.

On the morning of March 27, the son heard gunshots in the family’s apartment. His mother opened the bedroom door, pointed a gun at him and shot him in the arm, the report said. Arrais did not say a word during the shooting.

The son locked his bedroom door and called 911, the report said. “When officers arrived, the only reasonable assumption was that there was an armed and dangerous suspect in the vicinity of the apartment complex,” Wagstaffe wrote.

Arrais pointed her gun at the officers as she tried to drive away, the report said. When Corporal Hayden Fry and Officer Kevin Contreras saw the gun, they opened fire, shooting the mother.