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A woman shot and killed by Calgary police on Christmas Day was a 29-year-old mother, Global News has confirmed.

Sources confirm the woman died at McKnight Boulevard N.E. near 68 Street N.E. following several hours of erratic driving on Tuesday.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) released a statement on Thursday afternoon confirming that when officers exited their vehicles, the 29-year-old woman’s grey Honda sedan with B.C. plates was put in motion.

​”The situation escalated, resulting in an officer discharging his service pistol,” the statement read. Tweet This

ASIRT also confirmed she was the registered owner of the vehicle.

Global News has learned the officer fired his gun at the woman to save a second officer from harm. Sources said the driver was using her vehicle as a weapon, resulting in a female officer being pinned between vehicles. The male officer fired his weapon after telling the driver to stop and take her foot off the gas.

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Police 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 the 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 in Falconridge.

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

Police have not provided further information on what led to the woman driving erratically. Global News is choosing not to identify the woman as ASIRT is still working to notify her next of kin.

The condition of the female officer is unknown.