BELIEVE GOVERNMENT CAN FIX MENTAL HEALTH. WE’RE ALSO TAKING A DEEPER LOOK INTO GUZMAN’S STABBING INCIDENT FROM 2024. KETV NEWSWATCH 7 MADISON PERALEZ IS LIVE AT SAINT FRANCIS CABRINI RECTORY. THAT’S WHERE GUZMAN BARRICADED HERSELF AFTER STABBING HER FATHER OVER TWO YEARS AGO. MADISON. BILL QUANECIA. WE’RE GOING TO ZOOM IN TO THE TOP MIDDLE WINDOW. THAT’S THE AREA WHERE NOEMI GUZMAN TRIED TO AVOID LESS LETHAL CHEMICAL SPRAY, A TACTIC POLICE USED TO GET HER INTO CUSTODY TWO YEARS AGO. AND SO I SAID, WHO ARE YOU? AND SHE SAID, WHERE WERE YOU? AND I SAID, WELL, I LIVE HERE. AND SHE SAID, WELL, I’M GOING TO DO TERRIBLE THINGS HERE. THESE ARE PHOTOS OF THE BARRICADE NOEMI GUZMAN BUILT IN SAINT FRANCIS CABRINI RECTORY, WHERE FATHER DAMIEN SALINE LIVED. I ACTUALLY DIDN’T THINK SHE COULD GET INTO THE ROOM I WAS IN BECAUSE IT WAS DEADBOLTED. BUT SHE SHATTERED THE DOOR FRAME WHERE THE DEADBOLT WAS AND BENT THE DEADBOLT SO SUPER STRONG. POLICE SAID SHE BROKE INTO THE HOME SHORTLY AFTER STABBING HER FATHER AND DOUSING HIM IN LIGHTER FLUID. FATHER SALINE SAYS GUZMAN’S MOTHER PAID HIM A VISIT A FEW DAYS AFTER THE MARCH 2024 INCIDENT. HER MOTHER WAS FRIGHTENED OF HER AS WELL AND WORRIED FOR HER THAT IF SHE DIDN’T GET CARE, SHE WOULD CAUSE HARM TO OTHERS OR BE HURT HERSELF. THE PRIEST SAYS HE NOTICED SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM A MENTAL ILLNESS. HE REMEMBERS SHE WAS EVALUATED AFTER THE BREAK IN. WE DON’T HAVE THE PERSONNEL TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER, TO MAINTAIN HER, TO GET HER BACK IN IF SHE NEEDS TO GO BACK IN SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE HARMED. WHEN FATHER SALINE HEARD GUZMAN HAD A THREE YEAR OLD KYLER’S FACE TUESDAY MORNING, HE WASN’T SURPRISED. IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME, PROBABLY UNTIL IT HAPPENED. THE PRIEST SAYS HE WISHES THERE WERE MORE RESOURCES AT PEOPLE’S FINGERTIPS, COMMUNITY, LYONS AND OTHERS DO WHAT THEY CAN, BUT THEY CAN’T HANDLE THE NUMBERS THAT ARE THERE. WE REACHED OUT TO GUZMAN’S FAMILY, BUT NONE OF THEM WERE READY OR WANTED TO TALK. REPORTIN
‘Only a matter of time’: Omaha priest, also crime victim, criticizes mental health system after woman slashed boy at Walmart
Updated: 5:28 PM CDT Apr 15, 2026
The woman who slashed 3-year-old Cyler Tuesday morning was also involved in a stabbing incident over two years ago.READ MORE: Omaha police identify woman who slashed 3-year-old boy during attempted abduction at WalmartIn March 2024, Noemi Guzman stabbed her father and doused him in lighter fluid and barricaded himself inside the St. Frances Cabrini rectory.”I said, ‘Who are you?’ And she said, ‘Well, who are you?’” St. Frances Cabrini’s priest, Damian Zuerlein, recalled when Guzman broke into the rectory. “I said, ‘Well, I live here.’ And she said, ‘Well, I’m going to do terrible things here.’”Guzman used anything she could find in the home to barricade herself inside in order to keep police from getting to her, Father Zuerlein remembering her strength.”I actually didn’t think she could get into the room I was in because it was deadbolt it,” he said. “But she shattered the door frame, where the deadbolt was, and bent the deadbolt.”Father Zuerlein said Guzman’s mother paid him a visit a few days after the March 2024 incident.”Her mother was frightened of her as well and worried that if she didn’t get care, she would cause harm to others or be hurt herself,” Father Zuerlein said.The priest said he noticed she was suffering from a mental illness, and remembers she was evaluated after the break-in.READ MORE: Police kill woman who slashed 3-year-old boy during kidnapping attempt at Omaha Walmart”We don’t have the personnel to keep an eye on her, to maintain her, to get her back in if she needs to go back in. So then other people are harmed,” he said.When Father Zuerlein heard Guzman had slashed a young boy’s face, he wasn’t surprised.”It was only a matter of time, probably until it happened,” he said.Father Zuerlein said he wishes there were more resources at the people’s fingertips.”Community Alliance and others do what they can, but they can’t handle the numbers that are there,” he said.We reached out to Guzman’s family, but none of them were ready or wanted to talk about her.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
OMAHA, Neb. —
The woman who slashed 3-year-old Cyler Tuesday morning was also involved in a stabbing incident over two years ago.
READ MORE: Omaha police identify woman who slashed 3-year-old boy during attempted abduction at Walmart
In March 2024, Noemi Guzman stabbed her father and doused him in lighter fluid and barricaded himself inside the St. Frances Cabrini rectory.
“I said, ‘Who are you?’ And she said, ‘Well, who are you?’” St. Frances Cabrini’s priest, Damian Zuerlein, recalled when Guzman broke into the rectory. “I said, ‘Well, I live here.’ And she said, ‘Well, I’m going to do terrible things here.’”
Guzman used anything she could find in the home to barricade herself inside in order to keep police from getting to her, Father Zuerlein remembering her strength.
“I actually didn’t think she could get into the room I was in because it was deadbolt it,” he said. “But she shattered the door frame, where the deadbolt was, and bent the deadbolt.”
Father Zuerlein said Guzman’s mother paid him a visit a few days after the March 2024 incident.
“Her mother was frightened of her as well and worried that if she didn’t get care, she would cause harm to others or be hurt herself,” Father Zuerlein said.
The priest said he noticed she was suffering from a mental illness, and remembers she was evaluated after the break-in.
READ MORE: Police kill woman who slashed 3-year-old boy during kidnapping attempt at Omaha Walmart
“We don’t have the personnel to keep an eye on her, to maintain her, to get her back in if she needs to go back in. So then other people are harmed,” he said.
When Father Zuerlein heard Guzman had slashed a young boy’s face, he wasn’t surprised.
“It was only a matter of time, probably until it happened,” he said.
Father Zuerlein said he wishes there were more resources at the people’s fingertips.
“Community Alliance and others do what they can, but they can’t handle the numbers that are there,” he said.
We reached out to Guzman’s family, but none of them were ready or wanted to talk about her.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |