VENTURA : Nurse Arrested in Stun-Gun Attack

A 34-year-old Ventura nurse angry over a child custody battle assaulted her ex-husband’s wife on Wednesday with a stun gun during a break in court proceedings, authorities said.

Susan Mary Gedney was arrested on suspicion of assault with a stun gun and possession of the weapon inside a government building, Sheriff’s Sgt. Don Holladay said.

She was being held in Ventura County Jail on $5,000 bail Wednesday night.

Holladay said Gedney was at the Hall of Justice in the Ventura County Government Center for a custody dispute with her ex-husband, Brian Gedney of Weed, Calif.

Their 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son accompanied their father to court because Susan Gedney let him take the children for Christmas week, said Carter McLain, a friend of the nurse.

During a 9:45 a.m. recess, Holladay said, Susan Gedney followed her ex-husband’s wife, Terri Lee Gedney, into the courthouse cafeteria.

Terri Gedney, 33, had entered the dining area accompanied by Susan Gedney’s two children.

Susan Gedney allegedly approached the table, argued with Terri Gedney and then tried to take her son.

Holladay said Susan Gedney drew a stun gun from under her jacket when Terri Gedney intervened and shocked her ex-husband’s wife three or four times, causing minor injuries to the woman, who is two months pregnant.

McLain said Susan Gedney, a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, has been upset because her ex-husband, whom she divorced more than two years ago, is challenging her custody of the children.