Adeline Arroyo, 31, is in stable condition after being shot by police in Long Beach, CA, this past Saturday.

Police responded to 3rd Street and Long Beach Boulevard at around 9:47 a.m. after receiving citizen reports of a woman armed with a gun. They found Adeline Arroyo, a mentally ill woman standing around, aimlessly brandishing what appeared to be a handgun.

A SWAT team and crisis negotiators also were dispatched and attempted to persuade Arroyo to put down her weapon and submit to arrest. For two hours the negotiations continued until Arroyo started meandering towards the officers, holding the gun in a semi threatening manner.

When she pointed it in the direction of officers, they responded by firing their weapons.

Arroyo’s family members described her as mentally ill. Officers discovered after the shooting that the gun she was holding was a BB gun Beretta replica,.

Irene Ward, Arroyo’s aunt commented, “I’m feeling distraught about the whole thing. This is something that shouldn’t have happened. I feel the Long Beach Police Department should be more trained when they’re dealing with somebody with a mental illness.”

A two hour standoff indicated quite a bit of restraint in view of the situation and the apparent weapon clearly a perceived threat to themselves and others by the officers. As Arroyo approached the officers she clearly posed a possible threat. The gun certainly would appear to be real from a distance and it would appear that the officers exercised maximum restraint up until the last possible moment before firing.

While the family is quick to blame the Long Beach Police, questions should also be asked regarding the medical attention that Ms. Arroyo was receiving and efforts made by her family to keep her under supervision and to keep guns, even replicas, out of her hands.

Family members say that Arroyo was shot twice and is listed in critical but stable condition.

In defending the action of the Long Beach Police, Chief Jim McDonnell said, “If a person has a handgun and they point that in your direction, then at that point less lethal is not appropriate. You’re facing a lethal threat.”

You don’t keep guns within reach of children or the mentally ill. Even replicas can be dangerous, as this incident vividly points out.