Murrieta Police SWAT Team Responds to Report of Suicidal Woman

This article was originally published at about 6:15 p.m. Oct. 25 and updated at 7:31 p.m.

The Murrieta Police Department SWAT team was deployed to Country Mill Road off of Las Brisas Road Friday afternoon when reports were received that a woman was threatening to kill herself.

Several residents say they heard a few gunshots shortly after 4 p.m., and then Murrieta police units began arriving on the residential street.

A woman wearing a bathrobe was seen being taken away in a patrol car at about 5:30 p.m.

At about the same time, a Patch reporter on scene said it appeared SWAT officers were preparing to enter the home in the 39400 block of Country Mill.

Police said the allegedly suicidal woman reportedly fired a gun inside her home, causing a full response from police before she was brought to safety.

Murrieta police had initially responded at 4 p.m. when dispatchers received calls from two separate family members that the woman was threatening to kill herself, according to Murrieta police Capt. Dennis Vrooman.

As Murrieta officers began arriving, Vrooman said at least one gunshot was discharged from within the home.

“She had access to some firearms so just for our protection we ended up deploying the SWAT team,” Vrooman said, noting it was the first time the department had used the new armored vehicle.

“The shot was fired with officers nearby,” Vrooman said. “But we were able to approach the scene with a bulletproof vehicle. That was the whole purpose of the vehicle. It provides officer safety and protection, even if (the subject) is suicidal, so they can’t discharge a firearm at the officer.”

As the scene unfolded, many residents of Country Mill Road were returning home from work.

James Malayny, 38, who lives directly next door to the woman's home, said he parked his work truck at 4:45 p.m. in the street between his house and her house. As he exited his truck, he was approached by a police officer who asked him to leave the area on foot immediately.

"They told me I needed to get out of the area because they were being shot at," Malayny said.

Resident Christopher Seerattan, 35, who lives a few doors down from where the police activity was centered, said he came outside at about 4 p.m. and by that time a police SUV and three patrol cars were on scene.

“Officers were staging from the houses adjoining it,” Seerattan told Patch.

He described the street as typically quiet, and said it was the most police activity he has seen since moving to Murrieta six or seven years ago.

A couple who wished to remain anonymous said their two children were inside a home on Country Mill Road but they were ensured of their safety by maintaining cellphone contact with them.

Through a phone conversation, police were able to convince the suicidal woman to exit her home by about 5:30 p.m.

Vrooman said she exited through her garage and was taken into protective custody.

The SWAT team entered the home to ensure no one was injured and to collect the firearms.

Vrooman said the firearms would be taken for safekeeping.

“As standard protocol we will take the weapons out of the home for their protection until we can ensure that she is no longer suicidal,” Vrooman said. “There is a process through the Department of Justice to obtain the firearms back.”

Country Mill was reopened to residents as of about 6:30 p.m., but Vrooman said officers would remain at the home to complete a procedural investigation as to the intent of the gunshots.

“She barricaded herself within the home; we still need to determine how many rounds were fired.”

Vrooman said police were also investigating whether the woman may have taken too much prescription medication.

—Joe Fanaselle contributed to this report.