Armed woman at BC Women’s Hospital tried to break into nursery: VPD
A woman has been arrested in Vancouver in connection to an alarming incident Thursday at BC Women’s Hospital that prompted staff to “shelter in place.”
Vancouver police say they were called over reports of a woman armed with a knife threatening staff and patients around 10:30 am.
Police say the situation escalated to the point that staff reportedly barricaded themselves in the nursery with the babies as the suspect tried to break in. The 911 call taker could hear screaming in the background as staff called for help.
“The woman was in close proximity to staff, babies, and at least one other pregnant woman. The staff asked VPD officers to respond ‘ASAP,’ reporting that she was uncontrollable and violent, and had chased a doctor, who ran to a place of safety,” VPD said in a tweet.
When officers arrived, police say they were unable to get close enough to apprehend the suspect. Officers then deployed a beanbag shotgun, and the woman was arrested.
“A beanbag shotgun is a safer, effective tool that specially trained officers use when they encounter violent, non-compliant people. The impact is similar to a police baton strike,” police added.
Sgt. John Roberts explained that in this case, officers determined a Taser would not be appropriate due to the distance between the officers and the suspect.
Sgt. John Roberts holds up a beanbag shell (left) and a shotgun round (right) /Amir Ali
He says the beanbag shotgun round is similar to being hit by a 90-mile-an-hour fastball and is aimed for the “meaty” part of the body like the thighs, which is fairly low risk and generally leaves bruising.
The actions of our officers safely resolved a volatile and terrifying situation without injury to innocent people. The woman was arrested for possession of a weapon, assault, and breach of probation.
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) September 23, 2022
There are no reports of any injuries among staff or patients.
Police have not released the name of the suspect, only revealing that she has been arrested for possession of a weapon, assault, and breach of probation.
On Friday afternoon, VPD Sgt. Steve Addison provided more details about what police believe led to the incident.
“There were conversations happening between hospital staff and the mother that concern the welfare of her child, and access to the child and as a result of those calm conversations her behaviour escalated to the point where it was extremely volatile and threatening,” Addison said, adding that he could not provide specifics due to privacy concerns.
The weapon was determined to not be a knife, but an “edged weapon,” which officers won’t provide more details on due to the ongoing investigation.
This is the second incident in recent days at a Vancouver hospital. On September 19, an Amber Alert was issued after a three-year-old boy was abducted from BC Children’s Hospital. He was found safe in Alberta several hours later.
Addison says the department works very closely with local health authorities to address a variety of safety needs within these settings, and as part of the investigation will be examining the in-house security and other factors to determine if “there’s anything that could have been done differently” in connection to the most recent incident.
With files from Amir Ali