Insanity Defense

 4/15/26 KETV. Police responded to a kidnapping:

Investigators said officers arrived at the location and immediately found 31-year-old Noemi Guzman near the southern parking lot entry, standing by a shopping cart with the child inside.

Omaha police said Guzman was making multiple threats with the knife, and officers gave multiple verbal commands for her to drop the knife. She refused to drop it and cut the boy, officials said.

Two officers shot the woman, Noemi Guzman, after she cut the boy and refused to drop a knife she had stolen from the store, the police department said in a news release....

Omaha police said Guzman is the same woman accused of stabbing her father and breaking into the rectory of an Omaha church.

In 2024, investigators said Guzman doused her father with a flammable liquid and cut him with a knife.

That previous crime ended up:

Guzman pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, arson, burglary, and criminal mischief. She was later found not responsible by reason of insanity. The case is still open. KETV Investigates is continuing to examine the court documents.

I understand that there may have been good reason to find her not guilty by reason of insanity. (This incident seems to confirm it.) But why would you put someone out on the street with a history of insane violence? She could not lawfully buy or possess a gun, but as she demonstrated, getting hold of deadly weapons is not hard. In addition to risk to others, it is hard to imagine that she would be safe on her own. She certainly was not in this situation.