EL MONTE, Calif. — A camouflaged gunman was killed and a 6-year-old hostage was shot in the leg during a two-hour standoff with police Tuesday after the man snatched the child off a sidewalk and barricaded himself in a restaurant east of Los Angeles.
The man, whose name has not been released, was declared dead at the restaurant soon after gunshots were fired, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. David Infante. He would not say who fired the shots or how the gunman died.
Authorities negotiated with the man for about two hours before a flash-bang grenade exploded and gunshots were fired inside the building.
The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh and was in critical but stable condition, said a county fire dispatcher.
The standoff began after a police officer saw the gunman grab the boy and head into the restaurant. The man ignored the officer’s orders to stop and barricaded himself inside a back room, officials said.
