A Pasco woman in crisis pointed an AK-47 at an officer. Here’s what happened next
A 48-year-old Pasco woman is in jail after pointing an AK-47 at a police officer, twice.
Pasco police were called to West Court Street just after 8:45 p.m. Sunday after someone reported seeing a woman wearing a vest and helmet and carrying an “assault” rifle slung over her shoulder, according to court documents.
When Officer Richard Leininger passed in front of a Court Street home he saw Melanie A. Gloriosso holding an AK-47 while standing on a porch. As he drove back, he saw Gloriosso was pointing the rifle in his direction.
The officer could see the homeowner behind the woman trying to get her to leave.
“I yelled from my car ‘put that down’ thinking that a reasonable person would put up their hands or let the rifle hang. Melanie A. Gloriosso did not comply and rather lifted the rifle up pointing it at me,” Leininger wrote in court documents. “In this moment, I was expecting to be shot and killed.”
Leininger got the homeowners back inside the house and away from a potential crossfire. Gloriosso continued to point the gun at him as he approached.
She finally dropped it and the helmet after he warned the woman that he would shoot her if she didn’t drop the gun.
When they arrested her, officers found the rifle was loaded with a full magazine and she had seven more rounds on her, as well as a KA-BAR knife.
SWAT team members were called in to help with the short standoff, and police blocked the road between Road 44 and Road 48.
Bomb squad called
Gloriosso is known to make bombs, so the Richland bomb squad was called in to examine her vest, said Sgt. Rigo Pruneda. Neighboring homes were evacuated. They did not find anything there.
When they went to her home nearby, they discovered possible explosive devices.
Pruneda said the woman was having a mental health crisis, and the officer handled the situation well without the help of a mental health professional.
Even after her arrest, Gloriosso continued to talk about Chinook helicopters dropping bombs and wanting to be shot in head by sharp shooters, according to court records.
She was booked into the Franklin County jail on an investigative hold for first-degree assault.
This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 5:16 PM.