The woman who was shot dead by police in Sevenoaks, Kent, on Monday had a history of mental illness, friends said yesterday.

Ann Sanderson, 37, was traumatised as a child when her mother died of cancer, and later developed a personality disorder, according to residents near her childhood home. The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, has not ruled out the possibility that Ms Sanderson wanted to be shot, a phenomenon known as “suicide by cop”.

But staff at Rotosound, a guitar-string manufacturer in the town, where Ms Sanderson worked, said that she showed no signs of depression. “There was no indication whatsoever that she would do anything like this,” a colleague said. “I think she had quite a disturbed life previously, but she was a private person.”

Ms Sanderson, whose name was confirmed by police yesterday, became the first woman in Britain to be shot dead deliberately by a police marksman after she threatened officers with a ball-bearing gun.

Family friends in Edenbridge, near Sevenoaks, said that Ms Sanderson had had a troubled childhood. A neighbour, who declined to be named, said: “When she was about 12 her mother died of cancer. It was terrible. She was deeply affected by her mother’s death. Later she seemed to develop some sort of mental illness. I don’t know if the two things are related or not.”

Ms Sanderson had a reputation for arson, the neighbour added, and had set fire to a newsagent’s in Edenbridge.

Ms Sanderson, who had close-cropped hair and wore tomboyish clothes, went on a rampage in Sevenoaks town centre on Sunday night before she was cornered by police in a car park. A member of the public had called the police at 1.20am after she was seen waving the gun at passers-by and shooting at a restaurant window and a security camera. She had also set fire to a bin.

Armed police confronted her shortly before 3am and ordered her to surrender. A police source said: “She was ordered to put the gun down but refused and an officer opened fire. The weapon she was holding was a ball-bearing gun. It looked realistic and that is why the officers had to take action.”

She was hit by a single shot to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ms Sanderson’s neighbours in Sevenoaks said that she was eccentric but pleasant. Vivian Bain, 43, said: “She might have been suffering from a mental illness, as this row of houses is normally sheltered housing for patients. She was a lovely neighbour. She was always helping me out with little problems. There used to be a pub opposite, which got a bit rowdy. She said, ‘Just call me if you have any problems with them and I will deal with it’.”

Ms Sanderson wrote on a social networking website that she was interested in football, karate, kickboxing and horses. She described herself as “happy where I am”.

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