A resident self-storage manager at A & A West Mini Storage in Springfield, Mo., was shot and killed by law-enforcement officers on Wednesday after she threatened them with a gun. Two Springfield police officers and two Greene County sheriff's deputies shot at Tracey Liniger, 50, after she brandished her weapon outside the office of the storage facility, according to police. It was not immediately known if she fired the gun at the officers.
Police initially withheld the woman’s identity, but another woman at the scene identified the body as her mother and told a reporter the deceased had lived and worked at the storage property. The daughter said Liniger had been battling cancer for four years and speculated her medical condition may have become too much for her mother to handle, according to the source.
The incident began around 2:45 p.m., when the woman allegedly fired shots at a man who fled the self-storage facility and took cover next door at KADI, a local radio station. The man told KADI employees that another man was trapped by the woman and attempted to wrestle the gun away from her. That man also fled to the radio station. Neither of the men were injured, the source reported.
Those inside the radio station reportedly heard shots fired about 3:15 p.m. Officers had controlled the scene by 3:45 p.m., according to the source.
“When officers arrived, they made contact with the female, who then entered the office area of the storage facility, refusing to come out,” according to a press release issued by Springfield police. “When she did exit, she brandished her weapon and pointed it at officers.”
Springfield police officers Jason Bohannon and Marc Stevens, and Greene County sheriff's deputies Justin Adamson and Sgt. Robert Pounds were the four officers who fired at Liniger. No officers were hurt during the incident.
Police Chief Paul Williams said the police and sheriff’s departments would conduct joint investigations, including one by Internal Affairs to examine if proper procedures were followed. The four officers who fired at the woman will be placed on paid administrative leave during the internal investigation, according to the release.
