Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Woman Accused of Attempted Murder

A family dispute call turned into a brush with death for a sheriff’s deputy in Lancaster early Tuesday when a woman grabbed the officer’s gun, pointed it at him and pulled the trigger, authorities said.

Just before the weapon went off, Deputy William Costleigh managed to force the barrel away from his body so that the bullet did not hit him. Deputies said he then was able to retrieve the gun and restrain the woman, identified as Ruth Zirkelbach, 36, of Lancaster.

“I’m sure he feels very fortunate,” Deputy Marty Shearer said. “If it weren’t for his quick response, he could have been seriously injured.”

Zirkelbach was booked at the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer. She was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The skirmish took place outside an apartment complex in the 44100 block of 35th Street West, where Zirkelbach was living with her daughter.

Costleigh, 37, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, had visited the apartment earlier in his shift because the mother and daughter had been involved in a loud argument, Shearer said. At about 1:30 a.m., Costleigh was sent back to the apartment.

“They were going to work it out, and they didn’t,” Shearer said. “He got there, saw [Zirkelbach] walking away from the apartment, so he contacted her to see what was going on. She basically went violent on him at that point.”

To subdue the woman, Costleigh removed a canister of oleoresin capsicum spray from his belt. The chemical, similar to pepper spray, irritates the eyes and the respiratory system, temporarily disabling a suspect without causing permanent injury, deputies said.

As Costleigh prepared to use the spray, Zirkelbach grabbed for his service weapon and began pulling it from its holster, Shearer said. During a struggle for the gun, the two fell to the ground. Zirkelbach got the gun out of the holster and pointed it toward the deputy, Shearer said.

Costleigh forced the barrel away from his body, and one shot went off into the air, not striking anyone or causing any property damage, Shearer said. After pulling the gun away, Costleigh used his spray canister to disable the woman, then arrested her, Shearer said.

The deputy’s weapon was a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, which is usually carried with the safety switched to the “on” position. Sheriff’s Sgt. Gordon Carr said investigators suspect that during the struggle over the weapon, Zirkelbach had bumped the safety into its “off” position, enabling the gun to fire the single round.