LAPD SWAT and other officers helped customers escape Saturday during a tense, three-hour hostage situation in a Trader Joe’s grocery store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles during which one woman was killed, reports the Los Angeles Daily News.
The incident began with a car chase and gun battle, and ended with a wounded suspect handcuffing himself and surrendering to police, authorities said.
The 28-year-old suspect opened fire on police during a pursuit before 4 p.m. that began when they found him in a stolen Toyota Camry in Hollywood, police said. He crashed the vehicle into a pole outside a Trader Joe’s on Hyperion Avenue and engaged in another gun battle before running into the store.
Hours earlier, the man shot his grandmother as many as seven times in South Los Angeles and dragged an injured woman into his grandmother’s Camry before fleeing, Police Chief Michel Moore said at a 7 p.m. news conference. The suspect’s name was not immediately released.
The suspect had been on a cellphone with crisis negotiators throughout the ordeal, Moore said, adding about 40 people were believed to be in the store when the suspect entered.
Over the course of the standoff, police and SWAT officers helped some customers escape down ladders from windows and could be seen carrying children to safety.
"The heroism that was shown today was second to none and the teams that were able to respond, secure the perimeter, and engage in conversation with the suspect no doubt saved lives today," Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
