Manitoba friends, family identify woman shot dead by Calgary police Christmas morning

A woman from Manitoba has been identified as the person shot and killed by Calgary police on Christmas Day.

Family and friends have identified 29-year-old Stacey Perry as the woman killed following what police say was several hours of erratic driving.

Several friends tell Global News Perry grew up in Russell, Man.

Police in Calgary released a statement on Dec. 25 saying their involvement with the driver began just after midnight when they tried to pull her over several times for suspected impaired driving. Officers said they stopped following her vehicle at 12:40 a.m., citing safety reasons.

It was nearly two hours later that officers received a report of a driver running red lights and doing U-turns.

Officers said they saw her vehicle driving into oncoming traffic throughout the northeast, and sources said that’s when the decision was made to box the car in.

WATCH: Global News has confirmed the woman shot and killed by Calgary police on Christmas Day was a 29-year-old mother. As Nancy Hixt reports, we are also learning what led the officer to shoot her.

0:55 Victim of Christmas Day police shooting in Calgary was 29-year-old mother

Global News learned the officer fired his gun to save a second officer from harm. Sources said she was using her vehicle as a weapon, resulting in a female officer being pinned between vehicles.

Another officer fired his weapon.

Police have not provided further information on a motivation.

Friends called Perry “kind to everybody.”

“She never wronged anybody the whole time I knew her,” said one friend, Aaron, who asked that his last name not be used.

“She never spoke ill of anybody. I never knew her to even ever be in a fight. None of this makes sense.”

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WATCH: Manitoba woman shot by Calgary police remembered fondly as ‘the kindest person ever’

0:37 ‘The kindest person ever’: Manitoba woman shot by Calgary police remembered fondly

Brittany Clark knew Perry since she was 12-years-old.

“She was one of my best friends growing up,” she said. “Honestly I’m still in disbelief. I don’t know how to take the news. It just doesn’t seem real. It’s unbelievable. I’m just in shock. I can’t believe this happened.”

– With files from Global Calgary