AKRON, Ohio — Authorities said the woman who was shot and killed by the Medina County Sheriff on Wednesday had extensive mental health issues.
Police said 37-year-old Victoria Carter was carrying a replica gun and a knife when she charged at Sheriff Terry Grice and Deputy Doug Clinage outside of the Medina County Sheriff's Office.
That’s when Grice opened fire, ending Carter's life.
Police departments around Northeast Ohio say mental health issues aren’t new to them, but their approach has changed in helping those in need.
“We do deal with a lot of people that are, what we would call in crisis, that are suffering from some type of mental illness so it’s a lot of what we do,” said Lt. Matt Whitmire with the Akron Police Department.
This spring, in order to address the growing mental health crisis seen across the nation, the city of Akron brought on a new team to help police when someone is suspected of struggling mentally.
“It’s a great program because we have a mental health professional right there on site that can help these individuals and get them the treatment that they may or may not need,” said Whitmire.
The program is called the Summit County Outreach Team, or SCOUT. Leaders with the program say they have seen rapid growth.
“We have been dispatched I’d say probably about 350 mental health calls, and we have over 500 calls with follow ups,” said Autumn Goffinet, crisis clinician with SCOUT.
The program is made up of a paramedic, an Akron police officer, and a licensed mental health clinician. It's a team looking to help those in a crisis.
“We kind of want to build a rapport with them to see how we can help them and let them know we are here to help -- that they are not in any trouble, but we understand that they are in crisis,” said Marlon Sommerville a paramedic with SCOUT.
Leaders with the SCOUT program told 3News they are looking to expand their work across the county.
If you find yourself struggling mentally, you can call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit them online here.