Video of Tennessee officer fatally shooting woman walking toward him with skull-ax (WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO)

Police have released video of the moment an officer fired on a Tennessee woman walking toward him holding an elaborate skull-ax and carrying a sword underneath her shirt.
Leronda Sweatt was shot dead by policeman James Spray on Wednesday morning, after she allegedly threatened him with the weapon.
Authorities in Gallatin, northeast of Nashville, said that Spray was called to the home where the 40-year-old had stabbed a Sumner County Sheriff’s deputy serving her an eviction notice around 9 a.m.

The Tennessean

Police in Gallatin, Tenn., released body cam footage of an officer-involved shooting that ended with a policeman shooting dead Leronda Sweatt.

Body camera footage released Thursday shows Spray arriving at the house and yelling at Sweatt to “get on the ground,” before telling her to “drop it” as she walks towards him with the ax.

Sweatt fell to the ground as the officer fired two shots, and died after being taken to a local hospital.
Gallatin police said in a statement Wednesday that Spray was backed into his vehicle as Sweatt advanced, though dash cam footage from another officer arriving at the scene shows that he actually bumped into the second policeman’s car as he fired.

Officer James Spray arrived on the scene after a sheriff's deputy was injured, and is on administrative leave after shooting Sweatt (right) twice.

Spray was placed on administrative leave as his department investigates his decision to shoot.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also looking into the incident.
Police spokesman Bill Storment told the Daily News that in addition to the 18-inch ax, Sweatt was carrying a 16-inch sword tucked into her pants, a 5-inch folding knife that she threw into the ground before the confrontation and a "ninja star" in one of her pants pockets.
He added that officers had met with members of the Gallatin black community on Thursday and showed them the full footage.

Sweatt’s daughter said that her mother’s death was unnecessary and that she was provoked.
Alainna Sweatt told the Tennessean the footage released to the general public is only “half of the story that the police wants you to see.”
Her grandmother Ella said that Leronda Sweatt was bipolar, and “wasn’t a bad person.”

Gallatin Police Department

A police spokesman said that Sweatt was carrying a 18-inch ax, and was also keeping a 16-inch sword in her pants.

She said that her daughter had been trying to work out an agreement to pay her rent before the shooting.
The deputy who was injured while trying to serve an eviction notice and who police said was in the process of pulling out his Taser at the time he was hit, received roughly 20 staples for a wound on the front side of his body after being taken to the hospital.
He was released the same day.
With News Wire Services
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cbrennan@nydailynews.com