Police Shoot Woman With Non-Lethal Bullets After She Threatens to Kill Herself, Officers

A 52-year-old Petaluma woman was taken to a hospital for a mental health observation after a tense standoff with police in which she allegedly tried to get officers to shoot her.

At around 2:30pm Friday, Petaluma police responded to a home in the 100 block of Burlington Drive after getting a call about a suicidal subject. Once there, they found the resident, identified as Sharon Poncia, who allegedly yelled at officers and said that she would kill them if they harmed her dogs.

The officers asked Poncia to come outside, but she only yelled at them while keeping one of her hands behind her back. The negotiations continued for some 40 minutes until Poncia picked up a 16-inch crescent wrench and stepped outside through a side door.

She raised the tool above her head and yelled for the officers to shoot her. She then took several steps towards the officers, ignoring their instructions to drop the weapon.

Considering Poncia a viable threat, officers shot her with four bean bag rounds causing her to fall. Poncia was taken to Memorial Hospital for observation and charged with threatening and attacking a peace officer with a deadly weapon. She is expected to be transferred to the county jail Saturday morning.

Check back later today as we work to update the story.