A two-hour SWAT standoff with an armed and suicidal woman at a downtown hotel came to an end Monday morning after her boyfriend pinned her to the ground allowing officers to come inside safely.

Someone at a crisis hotline first called police about 5:30 a.m. saying a woman at the Plaza Hotel on Fourth Avenue wanted to kill herself, San Diego police Officer Joshua Hodge said.

As officers spoke with the woman over the phone, it was determined she was a registered gun owner who had been drinking, Hodge said. They also determined the woman was with her boyfriend.

She was later seen going in and out from a balcony at the hotel room with a gun in her hand. She then put the weapon in her back pocket.


The SWAT team and negotiators were called about 6:50 a.m. after the woman suggested she wanted to commit suicide by cop. An armored vehicle pulled up and parked near the hotel. Rooms adjacent to where the woman was staying were evacuated.

× SWAT team prepares for standoff

Around 8:40 a.m., the woman’s boyfriend, who was with her in the hotel, tackled her to the ground and shouted for SWAT officers to come inside. The man told them the gun was on a bed in the room.

Officers detained the man and the woman.


After Shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana where eight police officers were killed, this situation was treated like any other, Wahl said. San Diego police tried to deescalate the situation in order to bring as peaceful of a resolution as possible.

Lt. Scott Wahl, a police spokesman, said there was a high risk of a hostage situation or for bystanders to get hurt.

“The cards are stacked against us in this situation,” he said. “This situation could have quickly turned deadly.”

Officers tried to keep the woman confined to her room and negotiate with her in order to buy time and increase security, he said.


Broadway was closed between Third and Fourth avenues, and C Street was also closed between Third and Fifth avenues. Trolley and bus service in the area was disrupted as well. A Metropolitan Transit System shuttle is available to take riders between America Plaza and the Civic Center.

Access to businesses and some apartments was blocked because some sidewalks were closed as well.