Editor's Notebook: A Freeway Shooting And Unanswered Questions

We don't really know—and Golden Valley Police aren't saying much—about what happened on Interstate 394 last Thursday afternoon, when .

.

A statement that afternoon from Golden Valley Police Chief Stacy Carlson left more questions than answers. In the statement, Carlson said, "the lone occupant of the vehicle, an adult female, was in possession of a handgun and was subsequently fatally shot by the officer. The officer did not sustain any injuries."

It was the first time a Golden Valley police officer had fired a weapon in the line of duty since 1994 and the first time in 31 years that a Golden Valley officer has shot someone to death.

The Star Tribune listed the officer's name, citing an unnamed source, and we haven't confirmed it. But there's much more we don't know about what happened last Thursday:

Carlson's statement said Gordon was "in possession of a handgun." We couldn't tell from the statement—and Carlson declined to address our questions about this—whether Gordon's gun was in her hand, pointed at the officer, or merely somewhere visible, or within reach, at the time the officer walked up to the car.

Did Gordon fire any shots? Again, no answers from police.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

For now we are waiting, and it might take a long time to get the answers.

In the meantime, a woman's family is grieving and a police officer and department are dealing with the aftermath of a tragic moment on the freeway.

We hope the answers lead us to fewer incidents such as these.