Suspect is 18-year-old Bakersfield woman Woman shot by officer critical

An 18-year-old woman shot Saturday night by a Porterville Police officer who feared for the lives of customers in the 99-Cent Store is in critical, but stable condition at a Fresno hospital.

The woman has been identified as Carmen Bultram of Bakersfield.

She was first taken to Kaweah Delta Medical Center Saturday night, then transferred to Fresno.

Porterville Police Chief Eric Kroutil said his officer acted to save lives when he shot the woman who had a knife and appeared to be lunging at a customer in the store.

Police got a call from a store employee on West Henderson Avenue at 8 p.m. of a female subject “acting erratically, breaking items in the store and armed with a knife.” The store was full with customers.

The first officer on the scene contacted the woman in the store and immediately told customers to move away. Not all did. The woman, who was crouched behind a display, ignored the officer’s commands for her to put the knife down, at one time telling him he would have to shoot her. As she got up and went toward a customer, the officer fired twice from his revolver, striking the young woman twice. It was at that moment when other officers arrived.

“When you have a person with a knife and you’re alone, you can’t have a taser and your gun out at the same

time,” said the chief. “If your taser is ineffective (which it can be), you’re defenseless. It does not take long for a person with a knife to inflict damage,” he added.

Kroutil said police have not had any previous contact with the woman and the one family member they have spoken with was not able to shed any light as to why she was acting so irrational and dangerous.

“We’ve been unable to determine why she was in Porterville,” said the chief, adding it appears she was alone in the store.

Lt. Dominic Barteau said early Sunday morning that, “Despite repeated orders from the officer to drop the knife, the suspect refused to drop the knife, continued yelling profanities, and then began advancing toward a customer who had remained in the area.”

Kroutil said customers not getting away only heightened the situation.

“The officer had full belief she was attacking that person (customer),”

said the chief.

He said the woman, who was armed with a medium-sized steak knife, had been stabbing and cutting items in the store, prompting the call to police. “It was not a butter knife,” he stressed of the weapon the woman held.

As per protocol, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office was called in to investigate the officerinvolved shooting. The Porterville Police Department is conducting an internal affairs investigation. Kroutil said they have not been able to speak with the woman who remains medicated.

Kroutil said they also have yet to determine if the woman was under the influence of any drug, but her behavior was certainly erratic.

“It’s a tragedy for her and it is something no officer wants to do, but you have to make life and death decisions some times,” he said. “We do hope she recovers,” he added.

The officer, who Kroutil described as a very experienced officer, was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.