New details are shedding light on the troubled history of Noemi Guzman, the woman fatally shot by police after a terrifying attack outside a Nebraska Walmart that left a young child seriously hurt.
According to the New York Post, authorities say the 31-year-old had a documented pattern of violent behavior and mental health struggles in the years leading up to the incident.
In 2024, Guzman allegedly carried out a chaotic rampage that began inside her own home.
Police said she attacked her father, Octavio, with a knife after dousing him in a flammable liquid, then attempted to set the residence on fire.
Less than an hour later, she reportedly made her way to a nearby church, where the situation escalated even further.
Investigators said Guzman entered St. Frances Cabrini Church armed with a blade, causing damage inside the rectory as a priest scrambled to escape.
“Whatever room he was in, she busted through that room just as they were extracting [him] on that ladder truck,” Lt. Jake Ritonya said at the time.
“And then she was armed with a knife. So obviously it could have gone very bad.”
Officials described that episode as a “mental health crisis.”
Guzman eventually barricaded herself inside the church and allegedly used bear spray on officers before being taken into custody.
Despite facing multiple felony charges, a judge later ruled her not responsible by reason of insanity.
She was ordered to remain on medication and continue psychiatric care.
Court records also show a prior conviction from 2018 involving an assault, for which she received probation.
Those past incidents came into sharper focus following Tuesday’s violence in Omaha.
Police said Guzman allegedly took a knife from inside a Walmart and approached a 3-year-old boy and his caregiver.
She then forced them through the store and into the parking lot while making threats.
When officers arrived, they repeatedly ordered her to drop the weapon.
Authorities said she refused — and then slashed the child across the face and hand.
Moments later, officers opened fire.
Body camera footage captured Guzman holding the knife close to the child just before she was shot.
She died at the scene.
The child, identified as Cyler Hillman, was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover.
The incident has drawn renewed attention to Guzman’s prior encounters with law enforcement and the challenges surrounding her mental health history, which officials had previously flagged during earlier cases.
