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Mother, Son Dead In Davis After Domestic Dispute Leads To Officer-Involved Shooting

DAVIS (CBS13) — A mother and son are dead in Davis after police say a domestic call led to an officer-involved shooting.

As police entered the family's home on Avocet Avenue, they found the son, Christopher Gray, 29, wielding a knife with his mother, Carol Gray, 62, near dead on the floor.

"They could physically see she was injured but saw signs of life," said Mike Munoz, with Davis PD.

Police said Christopher Gray, while holding the knife, tried to stop officers from coming inside.

"He was given commands, which he did not follow," Munoz said. "He ended up attempting to assault the officers with a knife and that's when they ended up shooting the male suspect."

The mother and son were both pronounced dead at the scene.

Homicide detectives continued their investigation Friday. Davis police said they've been called to the home several times before for concerns related to Christopher Gray. Police first got a call just after 3 a.m. on Thursday about Gray being verbally aggressive and making threats.

Carol's son and Christopher's brother, Nick, said he was already concerned about Christopher.

Nick had called Davis police to the home after 8 p.m. on Wednesday night.

"Police arrived, and we requested a 51/50, which has been done with my brother," Nick said. "He has mental health issues. Police are aware of this."

But, former leaders in law enforcement said there are limits on who can issue that temporary hold.

"They would have to express or communicate something that the officers could articulate as an imminent threat," said former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinnis. "He would have to say, 'I am going to kill myself,' or 'I'm going to kill my mother.' "

Davis PD said they can't force someone to be committed or get help. McGinnis said there was likely a lack of tangible evidence to commit Christopher Gray in this case.

"Nobody was surprised to see the way this developed, and it's regrettable because good people wanted to see a different outcome," McGinnis said.

This is now a homicide investigation and an officer-involved shooting investigation. An autopsy has not yet been performed, so there is no confirmed cause of death yet for Carol Gray.

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