Police: Gunman Dies Of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound After Long Beach Crime Spree Turns Into Hostage Situation At Carson Church
CARSON (CBSLA) — A wild crime spree through Long Beach that turned into a hostage situation in a Carson church ended with gunshots and a suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The suspect, who was identified only as a 29-year-old resident of Long Beach, was pronounced dead at a hospital after shots rang out inside Arise Family Fellowship Church, 21608 Alameda Street in Carson.
Long Beach police say the chaotic chain of events – which occurred over the span of just 15 minutes – started at about 7:15 p.m. Thursday with a shooting in the 200 block of East 57th Street, where one man was found with a gunshot wound to the upper body. Officers were shortly called to a report of a shooting and carjacking in the same area, where a woman was shot at, but not hit. However, the suspect carjacked her vehicle, but was unable to leave area with it because it shut off.
The suspect apparently ran to East 55th Street and shot another man in the upper body, before carjacking another woman while she was in it a couple of blocks away, police said. As the suspect carjacked her, the suspect shot a third man, grazing him in the upper body, according to police.
The gunman kidnapped the woman he had just carjacked and forced her to drive him away from the area, police said. Officers and detectives tracked the suspect to the Arise Family Fellowship church at about 8:30 p.m., with the woman he had carjacked and several other adults, each of whom "had a relationship with the suspect," police said.
A SWAT team and a hostage negotiator responded to the scene, where the woman who was carjacked was eventually allowed to leave. Police say that while the hostage negotiator tried to make contact with the suspect by phone, SWAT officers heard gunshots and forced their way into the church.
The gunman was found with self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body, and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Two of the men who were shot were taken to the hospital for treatment and are both in stable condition. The third who was grazed was able to take himself to the hospital. The woman who was carjacked and the adults inside the church were also not hurt.
No shots were fired by officers. Long Beach police are investigating the suspect's self-inflicted gunshot wound as an "in-custody death."
Anyone with information about the chain of events can contact Long Beach police Homicide detectives Donald Collier or Leticia Gamboa at (562) 570-7244.