Gunman surrenders after deadly supermarket siege in LA
A woman supermarket employee was shot dead during a three-hour hostage siege in a Los Angeles store, begun by a man who had earlier shot his grandmother and girlfriend.
The man, 28, entered the Trader Joe’s in the city’s Silver Lake neighbourhood on Saturday after crashing his car during a police chase. Police said that after three hours, the wounded man walked out with four hostages and gave himself up.
The gunman, whose name has not been released, had shot his grandmother and girlfriend about 1.30pm in South Los Angeles, said Mike Lopez, an LA police spokesman. He then forced his girlfriend into a 2015 Toyota Camry and fled.
Officers saw the suspect in what was believed to be his grandmother’s car near Hollywood and tried to pull him over, but the man refused to stop, Mr Lopez said. During the chase, the suspect shot at officers but missed. At least one officer fired back.
Don Kohles, 91, was walking into the supermarket when he saw the car being chased by police crash into a pole outside. Police fired at the driver, shattering the store’s glass doors.
Witnesses said that as the man entered the shop, employees and customers ran or jumped out of windows to get to safety. Mr Kohles said he and others inside took cover and laid down on the floor as the suspect ran into the store.
He could hear others around him sobbing as the man ran towards the back of the store and yelled at people, but Mr Kohles said he did not hear any more gunshots. The gunman barricaded himself inside the store and took hostages.
After about 30 minutes, police came inside and rushed some of the customers out, Mr Kohles said. Police and rescue personnel swarmed the Trader Joe’s. Officials said they had 18 ambulances and 100 firefighters at the scene.
Photos posted on social media showed people trying to leave the supermarket through a window and video from television news helicopters showed others leaving through the front door with their hands up.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he was “watching Los Angeles possible hostage situation very closely”, and that LA police officers were working with federal law enforcement.