1 dead, suspect in custody after armed standoff in L.A.
LOS ANGELES — A man shot his grandmother and girlfriend yesterday and then led police on a car chase that ended when he crashed and ran inside a busy supermarket as bullets from officers shattered the front doors.
About three hours after he took hostages in the store, the suspect surrendered.
One woman was killed inside the supermarket, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
Officers with riot gear, armed with rifles, stood along the side of the Trader Joe’s in the Silver Lake area and used mirrors to try to look inside as hostages periodically came out the front door with their hands raised. At least one person was injured but is expected to survive.
The suspect walked out with a cluster of four hostages and appeared to be already handcuffed as the group emerged through the front door. Police immediately surrounded the suspect, searched him and then brought him to a waiting ambulance. The man appeared to have blood on his left arm.
Investigators believe the suspect, whose name hasn’t been released, had shot his grandmother and girlfriend about 1:30 p.m. in South Los Angeles and then fled in a 2015 Toyota Camry, Sgt. Barry Montgomery, a Los Angeles police spokesman, said.
During the chase, the suspect shot “multiple rounds” at officers, though no officers were struck, he said.
The suspect eventually crashed the car and ran into the store.
Devin Field, a witness who took cover when the gunman entered the store, told CNN the suspect “had a pistol in his hand” and fired at police.
“I was walking in when a car crashed running from the police crashed into street lamp in front of the entrance. Gunman got out and started shooting at the cops. I hid behind a retaining wall with three cops until they had me crawl out,” Field said in a tweet.