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A parolee was fatally shot and a bystander was killed after an hourslong standoff in Pico Rivera with deputies that turned into a hostage situation, authorities said on Saturday.
The incident began late Friday afternoon when deputies were searching for the man, who was wanted in connection parole violations, according to Lt. John Corino with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The incident began about 4:30 p.m. in the 9000 block of Rosehedge Drive, just east of Rosemead Boulevard, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said. Sheriff’s gang investigators had been hunting for a wanted parolee when they spotted him.
Deputies had been searching for an armed man witnesses had reported seeing in the area when they encountered the suspect, said Sgt. Crosthwaite of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station. He declined to give his first name.
The man fled as deputies approached and ran toward the backyard of a nearby home, Crosthwaite said.
“He turned and fired at deputies,” the sergeant said.
The deputies, who were not struck by the suspect’s bullets, returned fire,” Crosthwaite said.
It was not known if the suspect was wounded in the exchange.
A man exited the home with at least one gunshot wound a short time later, Crosthwaite said. The wounded person, believed to be an innocent bystander in the incident, was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
No deputies were hurt, officials said.
The armed parolee was believed to have a woman as a hostage as a SWAT team engaged the suspect in a standoff that continued into the evening, Nishida said.
A sheriff’s crisis negotiator had been speaking with the suspect by phone, urging him to surrender and allow his hostage to leave, officials said.
“Crisis negotiators are trying to communicate with him and have him surrender peacefully,” Nishida said.
The identity of the 24-year-old parolee was known to investigators, but withheld late Friday as the stand-off continued, she said.
There was no known connection between the suspect and the home where he was believed holed-up, Crosthwaite said.
Deputies evacuated homes along Rosehedge Drive between Rosemead Boulevard and Lindsey Avenue as the situation continued Friday night.
Agencies/Canadajournal
