Police shot a woman who they say had just stabbed a man, refused to cooperate with orders and pointed a gun at Cape Coral police officers.
This happened in Cape Coral along the 800 block of SW 47th Terrace, near the intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Cape Coral Parkway. This is is right behind a 7-Eleven, police said.
According to a Cape Coral police report, the woman threw hot water over one of these fences, and it hit someone in the stomach. A witness then says he saw the woman charge at a man with a knife and stab him.
Police say they shot her after she pointed a gun at them. So far, the Cape Coral Police Department hasn’t said why she pointed a gun at them.
The suspect has since been identified at Sabrina O’Neill.
As this investigation continues, neighbors who live near the crime scene are getting more anxious to know what happened.
Kathy Moore lives nearby. “For about five hours, you know, all we knew is that there was something going on, and nothing was being said,” Moore said.
Evidence markers still line the sidewalk near the Malabar complex, and police cars are still in the street as detectives try to piece together what prompted a woman to stab a man.
Then, when police arrived, that woman refused to drop her weapon. So the police on scene felt threatened and shot the woman at least five times. Multiple officers fired at O’Neill, and she sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
The call for EMS detailed the woman’s gunshot wounds. “One to her left upper arm, one to each upper thigh, she got uh, shot in the left chest.”
Tom Schafer says officers made the right call. “Someone points a gun at you. I don’t think there’s any other call you can make,” said Schafer.
“If you look on the front of my car, you see a Blue Lives Matter plate,” said Schafer. “I would not expect any police officer to wait around to get shot.”
On the other hand, the victim told police when they arrived to tend to him that his neighbor Sabrina had stabbed him.
Tommy Holohan lives in this neighborhood. “This is frightening. We moved here three months ago across the street across skyline was the swat team busting somebody, now this today is very disconcerting,” Holohan said.
Holohan still can’t make sense of what happened. Moore said once upon a time she felt safe in this neighborhood, but not anymore. “I’m really, you know, concerned about the well-being of the area, you know, and so very shocked and disappointed to see what happened and just hope that we’re able to get some answers,” said Moore.
Neither can a neighbor who lives next door. She was so frightened she didn’t want us to use her name or show her face on camera.
“After I heard the shots, I called 911, and I stayed inside for a few minutes,” she said.
She believes the 47-year-old stabbing victim is her next-door neighbor, a man she knows as Joe. That’s why she is so scared to show her face. “I just can’t believe that Joe was stabbed. He’s been in surgery. I don’t even know how he is,” she said. “I can’t imagine why somebody would stab Joe.”
“I’m dying to know the reason because he’s a good nice guy. he has some sketchy people over there sometimes, but Joe’s a really nice guy, so I just don’t understand, I just don’t understand this,” that neighbor said.
The Cape Coral Police Department says a 29-year-old woman is the suspect. On Tuesday, during a press conference, the Cape Coral Police Chief said she was in the hospital. On Wednesday, police said both the victim and the suspect are in stable conditions and remain at Gulf Coast Medical Center.
“It makes me wonder if I want to stay here,” Holohan said.
“It was just a really surreal day because nothing like that happens in Cape Coral. It never happens around here,” she said.
But, it did happen right there in their neighborhood. Crime Scene techs and detectives recently wrapped up processing evidence at the scene and continue trying to determine why this happened.
Other neighbors say they’re not too worried about this isolated incident. “It’s just still people. I mean, it can happen anywhere,” Stan Howard said.
“Doesn’t make me feel any less safe down here. It’s just sometimes things happen. It’s unfortunate,” said Schafer.
O’Neill faces one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault on an officer. She will be transported to the Lee County Jail after she is released from the hospital.
The officers involved in the shooting have since been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.