Family: Woman accused of threatening blood bank employees suffers mental illness – San Antonio Express-News

A woman said by her daughter to be battling mental illness was taken into custody after she allegedly threatened to shoot employees at the South Texas Blood Bank, court records show.

Employees at the blood bank called police on Dec. 14 saying they received a call from a woman, later identified as 59-year-old Yvonne Denise Knopick, who threatened to kill them with a gun, court records state.

Knopick told employees that if my son and daughter die and the blood bank receives their organs, she was going to kill them with a gun, the affidavit said. Knopick also allegedly told employees she was on her way to the blood bank at the time of the call.

An officer went to the blood bank, called Knopick and spoke to her for 7 minutes while Knopick drove to the location. About a mile from the blood bank, officers pulled Knopick over in a traffic stop.

At that time, Knopick was taken into custody for an emergency detention because of her erratic behavior, the affidavit said.

During a search of the vehicle, officers found a pellet gun under the front passenger seat and a loaded .380 handgun in Knopicks purse.

It appeared Knopick was on the way to carry out her threats, the affidavit states.

An SAPD spokeswoman said a police report regarding the incident was not public because Knopick was transported to the hospital as part of her emergency detention.

Police said emergency detentions are placed on individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. An individual placed into emergency detention is evaluated at a hospital and provided care by medical staff.

Citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, police said more details on Knopicks case could not be released,

Knopick was charged with making terrorist threats-placing the public or substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury, records state. She is being held with bail set at $40,000.

A judge ordered that she be placed under full house arrest with GPS monitoring when she is released from jail, according to court records.

South Texas Blood and Tissue Center spokesman Roger Ruiz said it was the first encounter the center had with Knopick.

In a statement, officials said they increased the size of their security team to monitor the campus.

Safety is always our foremost concern with respect to our donors and employees, officials said. Regarding the incident that occurred on Dec. 14, our staff followed all procedures and worked closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of our campus.

Knopicks daughter Brittany Cantu, 32, said Friday she learned of the incident from watching the news.

She said her mother has been working to treat her mental illness, but was reluctant to go into detail after media coverage of the blood bank incident.

Cantu said her family had been working with the county courts system in separate instances to help her receive mental help.

As her family, we want her to get the help she needs, her daughter said.

Knopick survived two separate bouts with breast and lymph node cancer and now undergoes preventative chemotherapy, Cantu said.

She described her mother as a giving and strong-willed person who loves her family.

Theres a lot of great qualities about her and flaws that everyone has, but not to the point theyll kill somebody, she said.

She said in the past, after a judge approved a mental evaluation, doctors would issue a time frame and medicine to help her mother bring her mental state under control.

That part of the process had not been working for Knopick, her daughter said.

Weve talked to multiple doctors who say she has this or that, so thats it. Bye, go get her on regular meds, she recalled.

She said she does not know what could have motivated Knopicks alleged threats described by police.

It was weird that she didnt call us, Cantu said. Now were talking to her of course, but one minute phone calls is not getting anything done.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA

Excerpt from:

Family: Woman accused of threatening blood bank employees suffers mental illness - San Antonio Express-News