Woman shot with police beanbag gun at B.C. hospital had been denied access to her newborn

A woman who held an “edged weapon” and threatened staff and patients at a Vancouver maternity ward that treats mothers with substance-use disorders was a former patient, police said Friday.

The Vancouver Police Department lauded its officers for subduing the mother, who was described as “uncontrollable, violent and had been trying to break into a locked nursery where babies were located” in the so-called families-in-recovery unit of B.C. Women’s Hospital.

Several hospital staffers, including a social worker, called 911 shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Thursday asking for police help.

Sgt. Steve Addison said they told police the woman had chased a doctor and lunged at a staff member.

“Callers reported to us she had a knife. When we arrived on scene she wasn’t holding it. She had an (other) edged weapon,” Addison said. “Really our only option, in this case, was to deploy the beanbag shotgun to take her into custody.”