South Gate Standoff Ends With Hail Of Bullets, Suspect Dead

SOUTH GATE (CBSLA) — Another standoff with police ended with a man dead after he allegedly fired shots at officers while holed up in a pickup truck in South Gate for more than three hours.

The standoff in South Gate began at about 7:35 p.m. in the 2700 block of Illinois Avenue near Stanford Avenue, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Kelvin Moody.

The suspect, who lived in the area, was wanted for pistol-whipping his live-in girlfriend on Sunday, authorities said. The suspect fled the scene following the attack and the woman had to be hospitalized, Moody said.

When the woman returned home Monday night, she alerted South Gate police, who had an arrest warrant for the suspect, that her boyfriend was in the area. Officers found him in his truck, but he refused to get out.

The man could be seen smoking and drinking while reclined in the driver's seat. Officers shot pepper balls into the truck to get him out, and at one point, he fired shots out of the passenger door at officers.

No officers were hit by gunfire.

Five South Gate police officers and one from Huntington Park returned fire on the man, and once he was shot, he was dragged out of the truck by a police dog.

He was determined to have been fatally wounded and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A handgun was recovered from the scene, Moody said. It's not known yet whether the suspect died from police gunfire, or from a self-inflicted gunshot.

On Sunday night, another standoff in Covina involved a man holding his 7-month-old daughter hostage for nearly seven hours. He threatened to hurt himself with a knife, and police fatally shot him after hours of negotiations.

The standoff happened right across the street from Stanford Elementary School, and police may have the scene blocked off for several more hours. Parents were advised to use Iowa Avenue for drop off instead.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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