Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. II Barry Montgomery briefs the press about an ongoing barricade situation at a Trader Joe’s store in Los Angeles.
A suspected gunman being pursued by police went into a Trader Joe’s store in Los Angeles on Saturday, where he barricaded himself in and may have taken hostages, police said.
The suspect’s car crashed next to the store and he opened fire on the officers chasing him, before entering the premises as shoppers ran for cover after shots rang out inside, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“We can confirm that there is an active barricaded suspect within a #TraderJoes in #Silverlake,” the Los Angeles Police Department said on its Twitter feed. It did not comment on the reports of shots being fired or any people being injured.
Aerial footage from local TV stations NBC Los Angeles and CBS Los Angeles showed people leaving a store window using a rope ladder and police carrying children to safety through a parking lot in the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood.
A woman inside the store was shot but able to get out, NBC Los Angeles reported, saying there may be dozens of people still inside the store in safe locations.
The suspect has been shot and is talking with police negotiators, NBC Los Angeles said.
Prior to the standoff at the grocery store, the suspect allegedly shot his grandmother and girlfriend before fleeing in his car, CBS Los Angeles reported citing a police source.
Los Angeles police said earlier that there was a pursuit with a suspect who emerged from a vehicle at the store.
“Due to the fluidity of the incident, we will release information as it becomes available,” police said on Twitter.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was watching the possible hostage situation very closely. “Active barricaded suspect. L.A.P.D. working with Federal Law Enforcement,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
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