Woman shot with beanbags may have been suicidal

Grover Beach officials unsure whether loaded gun found near woman was meant for suicide

Leslie Parrilla

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Police said Tuesday that they are unsure whether a 62-year-old Grover Beach woman was armed when they shot her Monday with a beanbag round, but said she had made suicidal threats and they were not taking any chances.

Police said an argument between Susan Margaret Huston and her roommate prompted suicidal and threatening behavior by Huston shortly before 5 p. m. Monday at her mobile home on Highway 1 north of Grand Avenue.

Police said they shot Huston with a beanbag gun after she exited her home at the Le Sage Riviera R. V. Park and refused to comply with police orders, which they did not describe.

“The officers couldn’t tell at the time that they saw her (whether she had a gun), because she was standing up on a raised platform porch. But she had made some statements that she wanted to kill herself and everything so we couldn’t take any chances,” Lt. John Peters said.

Earlier in the evening, Huston

had a pistol inside the mobile home and threatened to kill her roommate and herself, according to the roommate. The unidentified woman escaped from the home and called police after she reportedly heard a gunshot from inside the mobile home, Peters said.

About eight homes were evacuated after police arrived and tried unsuccessfully to coax Huston into speaking with them by calling her on a phone and using a public-address system. At one point, Huston called her roommate’s phone.

“She…said she had a gun and wanted to kill herself,” said Peters, adding that Huston had been drinking earlier that day.

After two hours she came out of the home around 7:15 p. m. and appeared agitated, according to police. Police then shot her once in the torso with a beanbag.

After stunning Huston, police rushed toward her and found a loaded pistol within a couple of feet of her.

She was taken to Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, where she was treated for an abrasion and then booked at County Jail on suspicion of making criminal threats, according to police.

Sheriff’s officials, the county SWAT team and State Parks rangers from Oceano Dunes assisted in the incident.