ANXIOUS STANDOFF ENDS IN MINOR INJURY : DEPUTIES SHOOT DEPRESSED WOMAN WITH NONLETHAL `ARWEN' ROUNDS.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

An armed suicidal woman AWOL from the Army barricaded herself inside her family's Saugus home Thursday, keeping deputies at bay for hours, until she was shot by a nonlethal projectile while trying to drive off in her car, officials said.

In a drama that played itself out in a Seco Canyon neighborhood where normally speeders draw the most complaints, a 25-year-old Army specialist missing from Ft. Hood since April 2 was taken into custody after a tense three-hour standoff, officials said.

The woman, identified as Blanca Medina, was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where she was being treated to cuts to her head and face. She was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, officials said.

The drama began about 8:30 a.m. when the woman armed herself with a 9 mm handgun, told her mother that she wouldn't return to the Army and said she wanted to commit suicide, said Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's Capt. Mike Quinn.

The mother managed to slip out of the house and call deputies, who surrounded the house. Seeing all the deputies, neighbor Willie Guizar said he innocently called the Medina house.

``I wanted to know if she knew why all the deputies were around,'' he said. ``She just answered, `How are you doing?'

``She's real nice, very friendly, bright, energetic. There was no indication anything like this would happen.''

Deputies attempted to talk the woman out of the house but she refused, and at one point apparently fired a round from her gun into the ceiling. Surrounding homes were evacuated and a portion of Seco Canyon Road was blocked.

``She was all over the house. We could see her at times. She was pointing the gun at her head. She even came outside a little,'' Quinn said.

A Sheriff's Department special weapons team was called in after Medina fired the gun and told her younger sister, Crystal, over the telephone that she wanted deputies to shoot her, Quinn said.

Shortly before noon, Medina walked out of the house with the gun, ignored commands to drop her weapon and got into her Dodge Colt, parked in the driveway, officials said.

She then pointed the gun to her head, pulled the car out of the driveway and started to drive off slowly down the street. Quinn said deputies had made a decision not to allow her to drive off, suicidal and armed.

Deputies shot out a rear tire, and another deputy, carrying a gun that holds special Arwen rounds - large plastic projectiles often used to break up jail brawls - trotted alongside the car, according to deputies and neighbors.

The deputy fired five rounds into the car, causing Medina to slump over. Quinn said late Thursday that it still was unclear whether she was hit by the rounds or injured from the flying glass. Bleeding heavily from the head and face but not unconscious, she was taken into custody.

``In a split second it could have gone either way,'' said neighbor Guizar. ``The sheriffs did a fantastic job. They told her not to drive away, but she got right in the car and put the gun to her head.''

Julie Lang, who lives across the street from the Medina household, said no one suspected anything like this.

``They are a very normal family. Speeders are the worst problem we have here,'' she said.

Neighbors said the woman had been in the Army nearly four years. She was stationed at Ft. Hood in Texas where she had achieved the rank of specialist and worked as a clerk typist in the Headquarters Command, said Lt. Col. Randy Schoel, an Army spokesman.

Medina, who neighbors said was a Saugus High School graduate, has been absent without leave since April 2, but Schoel said no further information about her situation was available. He added that the weapon she had with her was not Army issue.

Neighbor Penny Janeck said her son had been talking to Medina recently and told her that the woman was very depressed and did not want to return to the Army, even though she apparently would be discharged in just six months.

Neighbors said Medina was living in the home with her mother, father, younger brother and sister and a niece.

Quinn said it is possible that deputies will seek misdemeanor weapons charges against Medina, or she may simply be turned over to the Army after she is released from psychiatric observation.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Sheriff's deputies inspect the car dri ven by Blanca Medina after a tense standoff in the 2700 block of Cherry Creek Road in Saugus.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

(2) Deputies talk to neighbors near the home where Blanca Medina had barricaded herself with a gun.

David Crane/Daily News