One dead after 6-hour standoff outside Hermosa Beach home
A six-hour standoff and fire in Hermosa Beach ended when a SWAT team entered the house and found a dead person inside the garage.
Hermosa Beach police officers and a sheriff's SWAT team entered the house in the 600 block of 11th Street at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday and located a deceased person inside the garage, according to a Hermosa Beach Police Department.
The situation started around 3:20 p.m. Sunday when officers responded to a call of unknown trouble and a woman heard screaming near the scene, police said.
Arriving officers discovered a domestic incident occurred and a man made several threats toward a female, causing her and other family members to flee the house for their own safety, police said. The man barricaded himself inside and refused contact with officers.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to the scene around 3:30 p.m. and authorities evacuated nearby residences. Firefighters proceeded with caution due to reports that the man inside the home was armed.
Around 4:50 p.m. a fire started in the garage after there was an explosion. The flames spread into the single-family home and was upgraded to a full structure fire response, according to authorities.
Due to the possibility that an armed suspect was barricaded inside, firefighters took up defensive positions outside the home to protect surrounding structures.
The family's dog was rescued during the incident and reunited with the others who fled the house, police said.
Once the body was discovered and the house was cleared, firefighters were able to finish putting out the flames.
The person who died has not been identified yet. LACoFd arson investigators are still looking into what caused the fire.
