Enraged community members gathered in Berkeley on Monday to protest the fatal police shooting that led to the death of Berkeley resident Anita Gay.

Gay was shot by Berkeley police officer Rashawn Cummings while allegedly threatening one of her daughters with a knife on Feb. 16, 2008.

Cummings was put on leave for two weeks following the incident, and was then cleared of wrongdoing by the police department and allowed to return to work at that time, said Andrew Frankel, a Berkeley police officer.

In a police report made public on June 11, two of Gay's daughters who witnessed the incident shared their accounts with investigators.

"She started to charge toward us holding the knife up over her head in an aggressive manner," said Sherri Lomack, one of Gay's daughters, to police investigators. "As she started to get toward the door where we were standing, the officer fired two or three shots."

According to the report, two shots were fired. One of these shots grazed Gay, and the other hit her in the back.

Cummings had been called to the area earlier because of reports of vandalism and returned around 8 p.m. to investigate another disturbance.

In the report, Cummings said he felt Gay would have stabbed her daughter if he had not taken action.

"Had I not done it, I probably would have had myself in a situation where a lady would have been stabbed and I probably would have been in a fist fight with someone with a knife," he said in the report.

Cummings also said in the report that when he fired the shots he was hoping to incapacitate Gay.

"I was trying to stop the threat," he said.

According to the toxicology report, Gay had cocaine, alcohol and

benzodiazepine in her body when she died.

Sherri Lomack said Gay often became violent when she drank.

"I don't put anything past her when she drinks because she's a completely different person ... she doesn't have control over herself when she drinks," Sherri Lomack said in a police interview.

In an interview, an investigator asked Sherri Lomack about Cummings's actions.

"He prevented your mom from stabbing the sister?" asked the male investigator.

Sherri Lomack responded, "Yeah, yeah."

"He saved your sister's life," he said.

"Yes, (Cummings) did," she said.

"And saved your life?" he inquired.

"Yes, he did. Yes, he did," she said.

Frankel said the case will still likely be seen by the Berkeley Police Review Commission, which investigates complaints of police misconduct.

The protest on Monday took place on the four-month anniversary of Gay's death.

Berkeley Copwatch, a group that aims to monitor police actions, helped organize the event, which was attended by Gay's friends and neighbors, as well as supporters and local activists.

"I'm here with the family and with the community to demand justice and to start talking about ways to prevent these things from happening in the future," said Alex Fischer, a volunteer organizer for Copwatch.

Although Sherri Lomack said in her interview with investigators that Cummings saved her life, she took a much different stance at Monday's protest, where both she and her sister Leniece Lomack were present.

"The officer had no reason to shoot her," said Sherri Lomack.

Her sister, Leniece Lomack said, "She would probably still be alive if it wasn't for him. He was wrong, what he did."

Family members and neighbors said Gay was a kind and loving mother and grandmother.

"The family was always fussing and fighting, it didn't mean anything," said Maria DeColombia, a neighbor and friend of Gay.

DeColombia said she felt Cummings had overreacted in dealing with Gay.

Protesters held signs and chanted "Justice for Anita, justice for all".

"For me, justice would just be closure for the members of the family," said Jonathan Huang, a third-year student at UC Berkeley, who attended the protest.

Tags: ANITA GAY, BERKELEY COPWATCH