Video Released, Officers Named in Fatal Longview Police Shooting

LONGVIEW � The Longview Police Department has released the surveillance video and names of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a teen in the department lobby. KETK reports that according to the video, (see below) last Thursday at 6:28 p.m., 17-year-old Kristiana Coignard entered the police station, picked up the after-hours phone, called public safety communications, and asked for help. When asked what she needed, she refused to tell the operator what the problem was. Police officers were dispatched to the lobby a short time later. When Officer Glenn Derr arrived, Coignard indicated to him she had a gun. According to police, the words “I have a gun,” were written on her hand. This resulted in a physical confrontation when Officer Derr attempted to secure Coignard.

During the physical confrontation, Officer Derr determined she had a large butcher knife which she was attempting to pull out of her waist band. According to the video, Officer Derr was able to to get away from Coignard. At this time, Officer Gene Duffie entered the lobby and drew his taser. When a third officer, identified as Officer Grace Bagley, entered the lobby, she saw Coginard had a knife. As Coignard charged Officer Derr with the knife in what’s termed a threatening manner, Officer Duffie shot his Taser at Coignard, but it had no affect on the teen. Officer Derr then discharged his gun three times and Officer Bagley fired her gun twice.

EMS was called to the scene and Coignard was taken to a local hospital at 6:45 p.m. She was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace James Mathis. As a result the three officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation.

Earlier, a man claiming to be part of the hacktivist group Anonymous said the city of Longview should expect more cyberattacks if surveillance video of the shooting wasn�t released. That�s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. The man, who goes by the online name of �Tymples,�� also said Tuesday that a protest is planned at noon Feb. 7 at the police department in response to the death. A city spokesman said Tuesday that Longview police are monitoring social media and the city has taken steps to secure its online site following a Sunday cyberattack supposedly by Anonymous. �We temporarily disabled a couple of web services as a proactive step to limit the possibility of an issue,” said spokesman Shawn Hara. �The water utilities and online library server were disabled as a precaution.�