MODESTO, Calif. — police shot to death a woman on a Modesto elementary school playground this afternoon 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. on the campus at 1530 Mount Vernon Drive, 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, who has two sons, age 9 and 5, at the school. "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. He 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 did say that some of the children witnessesd the woman's actions.
Read more at ModBee.com