Armed man escapes SWAT team after hours-long standoff in Winnetka
An armed man who barricaded himself inside a stranger’s house in Winnetka escaped a SWAT team after an hours-long standoff that ended Friday morning, authorities said.
Police were involved in a standoff that began late Thursday outside a house near Leadwell Street and Oso Avenue that lasted roughly seven hours, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. When police entered the home early Friday, the man was gone; police think he escaped out the back door, Eisenman said.
About 10:45 p.m. Thursday, officers with the LAPD’s Metropolitan Division were flagged down by a homeless person in the area who said he was assaulted by another man, Eisenman said. The homeless man appeared to know his attacker because he gave a name to officers, she said.
The homeless man indicated where his attacker might have gone. Officers found the man and identified themselves, Eisenman said. The man then pointed a laser-equipped handgun at officers and ran, she said.
The man, whose name has not been released, kicked down the door of a nearby house and ran inside, Eisenman said. A woman ran out of the home. She was uninjured and told police she thought the man was still inside, authorities said.
A SWAT team set up a perimeter in the neighborhood for hours, believing the man was barricaded inside. Police fired rounds of tear gas into the home, trying to get the man to come out, LAPD Capt. Paul Vernon said on Twitter.
Around 6 a.m. Friday, police entered the home and conducted an “extensive search” of the property, Eisenman said. The man was not found.
It was unclear when he left the house, authorities said.
LAPD Officer Richard Jimenez told reporters at the scene Friday morning that the suspect is a convicted felon and that police think squatters had been staying in the two-story house in which he barricaded himself.
Twitter: @haileybranson
UPDATES:
7:35 a.m. This article was updated with new information from LAPD Officer Richard Jimenez.
This article was originally published at 7:15 a.m.
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