BURLINGTON — Police responded to a woman reportedly in “emotional distress” who was found unconscious Monday in the same downtown apartment complex where officers shot and killed a mentally ill man last week, officials said.
Police said she may have been trying to take her own life. Officers received a call at 4:30 p.m. from the woman’s relative reporting her emotional distress and stating concerns that she may have a firearm.
Officers responded and set up a perimeter around the 101 College Street apartment, evacuating neighbors. The apartment complex, known as Woodbury Manor or the South Square apartments, caters to the elderly and disabled.
Crisis negotiators and mental health workers with the Burlington Street Outreach Team were called to the scene. They obtained keys to the woman’s apartment and set up an array of shields and nonlethal devices, said Deputy Chief Bruce Bovat in a news release.
Several attempts to reach the woman by phone and knocking on her window were unsuccessful. An officer peering through the window saw the woman on the floor moving only slightly.
Officers entered to check her welfare, and confirmed the unconscious woman was the subject of their response. It appeared she’d been unconscious for “an extended period of time,” Bovat said.
Fire Department medical staff took her to the University of Vermont Medical Center. Police said Monday evening they expected her to survive. They did not have an update on her condition Tuesday morning.
The Burlington Police Department responds to more roughly 4,000 mental health calls each year, said Chief Brandon del Pozo, who added that most pass without notice.
“This incident shows the situations our officers confront on an ongoing basis as part of serving the largest city in Vermont,” Del Pozo said in a statement. “If it were not for their careful response, sound assessments and decisive actions, the fate of this victim would have been highly uncertain. We hope this is an opportunity for her to get access to the services that will help her in her time of crisis and assist in recovery.”
The department’s handling of a standoff in the same building that led to 76-year-old Ralph Grenon being shot and killed seven days earlier led some residents and Progressive’s on the City Council to call for greater independent oversight of police in Burlington.
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