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Car Chase Ends With Police Shooting Woman Dead

CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) – A memorial is growing near where a young woman was shot dead by police after she rammed them with her car.

It all started as a fight with her grandmother, friends say.

"She has a 4-year-old son that doesn't know… and is gonna grow up not knowing who his mom is," said Hailey Krause, the woman's friend.

Friends and family rushed to the scene near Sunset and San Juan Avenues Sunday afternoon after finding out they knew the woman shot and killed by Citrus Heights police.

"Her and her grandma got into argument and she went and took her grandmas keys, and her grandma told her not to and left and her grandma called the cops," Krause said.

Police tracked the car to Citrus Heights using a LoJack device. They tried to pull her over, but police say she refused to stop – instead ramming her car into their patrol car and then leading officers on a high-speed chase.

"She was driving recklessly on the wrong side of the road and, in these weather conditions, [it] put a lot of people's lives in danger," said Officer Bryan Fritsch with the Citrus Heights Police Department.

Investigators say the suspect then rammed a patrol car again – and that's when officers opened fire.

"After they let up all the shots, the car was still running. Like, she was slumped and her foot was stuck on the gas," said Osyrus Williams, who saw the incident unfold.

"She rammed two patrol vehicles with officers in them and they did fear for their life," Fritsch said.

Officers say the woman died at the scene.

A photo of the scene taken by a CBS13 viewer shows a silver Lexus against a Citrus Heights police car – a deadly end that began as a fight with a family member.

"They were close. Her grandma takes care of her son and she looks at her like her mom," Krause said.

The woman's identity has not been officially released.

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