PURCELLVILLE, Va. (AP) — Authorities say a Purcellville teenager is dead after being shot by a police officer and that police were called because the teen was threatening suicide.

The Virginia State Police, which is investigating the shooting, says Purcellville police received a call Saturday for help with a 17-year-old threatening suicide. State police say that when a police officer arrived and approached the male teenager, he lunged at the officer with a knife and was shot.

The teenager, Christian Alberto Sierra, was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead. The officer was uninjured.

A family member who answered the phone Sunday at Sierra’s home but didn’t want to give her name said the family believes the incident could have been handled differently.

Purcellville is in Loudoun County west of Leesburg.

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