MODESTO, Calif. — Police shot to death a woman on an
elementary school playground Tuesday after she came on to campus with a large
knife, according to the Modesto Police Department.
No students or staff at Catherine Everett Elementary
School were injured in the incident that began just after 2 p.m. PST on
the campus, police said.
Police have not released the woman’s name, but they
described her as a white woman in her 50s. She was taken to a nearby hospital,
where she was pronounced dead, according to Modesto police Sgt. Brian
Findlen.
The school remained under lockdown until about 3 p.m. At
that point, children were led out of the classrooms in groups to their parents
or guardians, who were waiting for them in front of the school.
“I was hoping it wasn’t this school,” said Rhiannon
Green, describing her fears as she drove to the campus. She has two sons, age 9
and 5, at Everett Elementary. “I just want my kids out.”
According to police, children were on the playground when,
for an unknown reason, the woman came on to the campus with what appeared to be
either a large butcher knife or meat cleaver. Findlen said she was described as
acting bizarre, and hitting herself on the head with the knife.
School officials immediately ushered the children into
classrooms as others tried to distract the woman and get her attention. School
officials put the school on lockdown and called police.
Findlen said some of the children witnessed the woman’s
actions.
“She was like bleeding to death,” said
sixth-grader Devin Walski, who saw her hit herself with the knife as he
walked from a classroom to music practice.
He and other children were immediately ordered into
classrooms.
“It was really scary,” he said, adding that he
heard four gunshots after he went indoors. “I was afraid for all my
friends in my classroom, and the little kids.”
When officers arrived minutes later, two officers confronted
the woman. She charged the officers, Findlen said, and at least one of the
officers fired shots, hitting the woman.
It was the second officer-involved shooting by a Modesto
Police Department officer in four days and the fourth this year.
On Saturday, officers shot and wounded an 18-year-old man
suspected of running away from an attempted burglary and driving a pickup
directly at officers early Saturday atJohansen High School in east Modesto.
Michael Baker of Modesto suffered a gunshot
wound to the chest that was not life-threatening and was taken by ambulance to
a hospital for treatment, Findlen said.
The three officers involved were placed on paid
administrative leave per standard procedures while an investigation continues.
Via McClatchy-Tribune
News Service.
