ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) – An Alaska family says police killed their teenage daughter just a month after they celebrated her 16th birthday.

Easter Leafa turned 16 in July but died in a shooting involving Anchorage police on Tuesday night – the same week she was set to begin her penultimate year of high school at Bettye Davis East High.

“They took my girl’s life,” said her mother, also named Easter Leafa.

According to Anchorage police, the shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. when officers were called to the Greenbriar Apartments on Tudor Road.

The emergency caller told authorities that her sister Easter Leafa was threatening her and had a knife with her.

According to Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case, when officers arrived at the apartment they ordered Easter Leafa to drop the knife, but she did not.

Case said that at that point, one officer shot the teenager multiple times while another officer fired a “less lethal projectile.”

Case explained that Easter Leafa was walking toward the police when they decided to shoot her.

Easter Leafa’s family says she and her mother moved to Anchorage from American Samoa about five months ago to join their extended family.

According to her family, Easter Leafa was looking forward to starting her penultimate year of school and described her as a quiet person who enjoyed singing and being with her nieces and nephews.

“She was only 16 years old and came to the United States to find a good school and a future, and now she’s gone,” said her sister Faialofa Dixon.

According to Easter Leafa’s older sister, Rosalie Tialavea, it all started when another sister called police and claimed Easter “charged her and hit her with the knife.”

They say before police arrived, Easter Leafa retreated to a balcony and covered himself with a blanket.

When police arrived, one officer had already drawn his weapon, according to the family. They said they were told to go into a room for their own safety and the safety of the officers.

Easter Leafa’s aunt said she was trying to run outside from the balcony to talk to her when the shots rang out.

“At this point we want justice because this was not right,” Dixon said. “She was a minor, they should have asked questions when they came in. Instead they came in prepared and looked like they were ready to gun her down.”

The family said officers began CPR and took Easter Leafa to the hospital.

However, the family says they still do not know where her body is and were only informed of her death around 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

“As a mother, I feel so sorry for my daughter,” said the elder Easter Leafa.

The family said police did not let them speak to their daughter that evening in an attempt to calm the situation before the shooting.

“She’s not a social person. We could talk to her, she stopped and was back to being herself within minutes,” said Tialavea. “But he rejected us. They attack her like that and she doesn’t know much, she just moved here, it’s very different from our home.”

Dixon added: “This is very heartbreaking, not only for us but also for our sisters and our mother who witnessed the whole thing.”

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