ROCHESTER - A woman died of injuries suffered when she fell while trying to pet a police officer's horse outside a shopping mall.

Authorities hadn't determined whether Susan Banker's injuries were caused by striking the ground or being trampled. Autopsy results were expected Tuesday.

Police said they interviewed at least four people and were given different accounts of what happened. “It's inconclusive whether the horse did step on her or not,” Monroe County Sheriff's Cpl. John Helfer said.

Banker, 51, who walked with a cane, got permission from a member of the Monroe County sheriff's mounted unit to pet his horse Saturday at The Marketplace Mall in the suburb of Henrietta, said her sister, Pamela, who had gone shopping with her and their mother.

Banker reached out to touch the horse but it pulled away and she lost her balance and fell underneath the animal, Pamela Banker, 46, said in a telephone interview Monday.

“It stepped on her several times,” she said. “I believe she was hit in the head by the hoof, too. She hit her head when she fell but it wasn't anything that would have killed her.”

Banker was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.

The mounted patrol horses are trained to remain calm against a variety of distractions, from milling crowds to loud bangs from gunshots or firecrackers. In addition, those chosen for police duties are “usually pretty docile, really good around people,” Helfer said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the horse, which has been in service for several years, will be withdrawn from public use, Helfer said.

Banker grew up on a farm in Livingston County south of Rochester, often rode horses when she was young and loved animals, her family said. But she was severely injured in two auto accidents, one while in her teens and another four years ago, and has been disabled for years.