Full Notification

Hollister, California. – September 30, 2026- The Hollister Police Department was in an hours-long standoff with a suicidal woman who was wielding a knife and actively self-harming.

On September 26, 2026, Hollister Police Officers were advised of a female walking in the area of Julian Court, looking into backyards and carrying a knife. When officers located the woman, she was in the open fields of Apricot Lane at Summer Drive, yelling and making incoherent statements. While maintaining distance but trying to determine if the woman needed further assistance, officers tried to engage her and could see that the woman was holding a knife in her pocket. The woman refused to speak with the officers and began walking away from them towards a more populated area. Believing that the woman was possibly experiencing a mental health crisis and that further public safety concerns could arise, officers continued to monitor the woman and tried to speak with her from a distance utilizing a PA system.

The woman continued to walk away from officers and into the San Benito River. Officers began disengaging from the woman because the concern for public safety had decreased. As officers did this, the woman began using the knife she had to self-harm and then ran south through the riverbed toward Nash Road at Westside Boulevard, to another populated area. Officers relocated to the area, along with deputies from the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department and CAL FIRE officers. The units established another perimeter to monitor the woman’s movements and address any further public safety concerns. As the woman was walking about the area, officers continued to try to speak with her, but she continued to actively use a knife to self-harm, so they sought assistance from San Benito County Behavioral Health’s Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT).

MCRT crisis workers responded to assist officers with crisis negotiation and urging the woman to obtain medical assistance, but she continued to refuse all help offered. Officers also deployed a drone to support aerial monitoring as she continued to walk around the area and alongside nearby residences. After MCRT's continued attempts to provide the woman with crisis assistance failed, they disengaged while officers and deputies maintained their perimeter and continued engagement efforts given her proximity to residences.

After hours of unsuccessful crisis negotiations and perimeter management, the woman remained apathetic with officers. At one point, she began running toward Nash Road and a residential area. Concerned for the safety of the community members in their homes, officers and deputies were forced to utilize less-lethal options by impacting the woman with pepperball projectiles and 12-gauge less-lethal munitions to disarm her of the knife. The woman dropped the knife, allowing officers to detain her and provide her with immediate medical attention.

Officers promptly had medics, who were stationed nearby, respond to the scene to provide the woman with further medical treatment. The Hollister Fire Department and American Medical Response (AMR) medics coordinated her continued treatment and ultimately had her flown out of the area to a regional hospital for further care.

The Hollister Police Department would like to extend our appreciation to our allied agencies: San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, CAL FIRE, San Benito County Behavioral Health’s Mobile Crisis Response Team, Hollister Fire Department, and American Medical Response. Matters of this magnitude require a multifaceted approach, along with an abundance of care and caution.
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Prepared by: C. Wells, Sergeant
Approved by: M. Paddy, Captain