5-Hour Standoff With Knife-Wielding Woman Ends Peacefully

SAN RAFAEL, CA — A woman, armed with two kitchen knives, was taken into custody and placed on a mental-health hold Monday evening after repeatedly running from police and keeping them at bay for five hours in San Rafael, according to authorities.

After receiving a 911 call at 12:15 p.m. of a female who cut herself with a knife, officers responded to the 700 block of Francisco Boulevard East, where they found the woman, bleeding and carrying two knives, the San Rafael Police Department said.

After spotting the police, she ran to a nearby parking lot at the intersection of Medway Road and Francisco Boulevard East and barricaded herself in the front entry of a closed business, officials said.

"Officers attempted to get the woman to drop the knives," the agency said. "But she refused and, at one point, advanced towards officers, where they were forced to use a less-than-lethal bean-bag shotgun to stop her advance."

Surrounding streets were closed, and the San Rafael Fire Department arrived, standing by to render medical aid to the individual.

Also called in to de-escalate the situation were crews from the San Rafael and Novato Regional Crisis Negotiations Team, who attempted for hours to convince the woman to voluntarily surrender, police said. At one point, the team's members got the female to toss aside one of the knives in exchange for a cigarette.

Shortly before 5 p.m., while the woman was momentarily distracted from the second knife, officers rushed in and apprehended her, the department said.

Francisco Boulevard East and Medway Road were reopened to traffic at 5:15 p.m.

The woman, who was not identified, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and placed on a mental-health hold for evaluation, officials said.

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--Bay City News