Tense moments inside a downtown LA apartment building were caught on camera from across the street. A man holds a woman by the hair and puts a gun to the back of her head. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on October 8, 2021.
An intense hostage situation in a downtown Los Angeles apartment complex came to an end Friday night after SWAT entered the apartment and the man was shot and killed, following frightening bystander video showing the man hold a gun to a woman's head.
The situation began when an armed man pointed a gun at a person walking by on the street and fired, but the weapon did not go off, police said.
The man then proceeded to try and rob a family inside a business, shooting at them and injuring a 14-year-old-boy, police said.
Later at the intersection of Main and 6th Street, the man allegedly took at least one person hostage in a barricaded situation that ended in gunfire.
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The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the scene at around 4:10 p.m. at the 500 block of South Main Street to reports of a shooting.
Detectives say the man somehow got into the Santa Fe lofts, barricading himself and taking in hostages.
Chilling cellphone video obtained by NBC4 shot from directly across Main Street shows a man pacing back and forth inside an apartment.
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At first it appears he’s by himself but then he is seen holding a woman hostage, pointing a weapon at the back of her head.
The flash bang from SWAT on the other side of the door was heard from blocks away. Then a second flash bang is heard, followed by gunshots.
The LAPD tweeted that once SWAT entered the apartment, the man was shot and killed. The department did not specify if officers shot him, or if the man shot himself.
Detectives say the first call of trouble came out as an assault with a deadly weapon, what followed was a series of violent incidents ending with an intense barricade.
The woman who was held hostage as well as the 14-year-old boy are expected to be OK.
