Chie Di Thi Vo was shot and killed by Officer Tim Bloch in March 2014 after police were called to a fight in an apartment
COPS in North Carolina have released incredible body cam footage of an officer shooting dead a woman rushing towards him with a meat cleaver.
Chie Di Thi Vo was shot and killed by an officer in March 2014 after police were called to a fight in an apartment complex in Greensboro.
The 46-year-old Vietnamese woman did not speak English and was arguing loudly with mum when cops arrived at the scene.
Police say she rushed at the officer with the meat cleaver and refused to drop the knife before he shot her.
Cops have released the footage in a bid to prove the shooting was necessary.
The Vo family saw the footage for the first time last week and their lawyer Tin Nguyen described the killing as unjustified.
But Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott called the shooting both reasonable and justified according to Fox 8 News.
The distressing video shows Vo, who suffered from bipolar disorder, chasing her mother brandishing the the large knife.
Officer Tim Bloch can then be heard yelling: "Put it down! Put it down. I'm telling you put it down!"
He then discharges his firearm five times as Vo falls to the ground howling in agony.
Bloch told Fox 8 News: "My training took over and it's what probably saved my life."
The cop was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2014 and has since left the force.
He claims that the video does not show him giving Vo CPR after the shooting.
Vo died in hospital two days later.
Bloch was responding to a 911 call reporting Vo was chasing her mother with a large blade around the grounds of Aberdeen Townhomes.
Captain Mike Richey says the cleaver was eight inches long.
Scott said: "It was a tragedy for the police department, the Vo family and this community."
But Vo's family say it is unacceptable how the case has been handled, particularly that it took two years for the video to be released publicly.
Executive Director of Southeast Asian Coalition Cat Bao Le told Fox: "We have serious concerns about the process in which the city has taken on to release the video."
