3 Hostages, 3 Gunmen Die in Sacramento Store Siege : Violence: Thirteen people are wounded. Deputies storm the building to end an eight-hour standoff.

SACRAMENTO —  An eight-hour siege at a large appliance store ended in tragedy Thursday when three hostages and three armed men were slain in a burst of gunfire, officials said.

As many as 13 hostages were wounded as the Sacramento County Sheriff’s SWAT team stormed the Good Guys electronics store where about 30 employees and customers had been taken hostage. A fourth gunman, seriously injured, was taken into custody.

“We couldn’t sit here all night and let them shoot them one at a time,” Sheriff Glen Craig said. “We knew we were running out of time. We didn’t feel we had the luxury of waiting any longer.”

Once deputies began firing, Craig said, a gunman inside the store “systematically went down the line” shooting the hostages at close range. That gunman, the sheriff said, was the first of the armed men to be killed by deputies.

The drama was played out on television as news cameras captured the action through the store’s front windows.

The gunmen apparently were angered by the refusal of the Sheriff’s Department to turn over the four bulletproof vests the gunmen had demanded. Instead, deputies delivered two vests hours apart.

Shortly after 9 p.m., one hostage was sent out of the building on a long tether to pick up the second bulletproof vest. A gunman signaled that he wanted two more vests and drew his hand across his throat in a cutting motion.

As reporters and bystanders watched, the glass doors of the store shattered as a sniper outside fired at one of the gunmen.

Inside, deputies who had climbed into the ceiling of the building and entered through a back door also opened fire.

Authorities said it was unclear why the four men, members of a gang called the Oriental Boys, entered the store several miles southeast of the state Capitol. Robbery apparently was not the motive, since they never went near the cash register. They also had time to escape after store employees called police.

In addition to bulletproof vests and a helicopter, the gunmen asked for jasmine plants and $4 million in cash, officials said.

Minutes before officers stormed the building, one of the gunmen shot hostage Sean McIntyre in the thigh and then released him in an attempt to show they were serious about their demands.

McIntyre was among a group of hostages forced to stand by the front door of the store in view of television news cameras. Suddenly McIntyre slumped to the floor, crawled out the door and limped to safety.

The gunmen threatened to kill other hostages if a statement from McIntyre relaying their demands was not broadcast on television immediately after his release.

“There are four gunmen in the Good Guys holding approximately 20 people hostage,” McIntyre said in his brief statement. “They want three bulletproof jackets, a helicopter and firearms. That’s it. That’s all they want.”

After seizing the store at about 1:30 p.m., the gunmen released eight hostages as the afternoon and evening wore on, including five children.

Throughout the siege, the gunmen negotiated by telephone with sheriff’s deputies stationed in a nearby branch office of First Interstate Bank. In midafternoon, the gunmen released three hostages--a woman and her two daughters--in exchange for one bulletproof vest.

Later in the afternoon, they let a woman and three children leave. At about 8:25 p.m., a hostage calmly walked out the door with his hands in the air and was taken to safety.

But in the evening, the gunmen appeared to tie up many of the hostages and force them to stand by the front door.

There were sporadic bursts of gunfire inside the store for hours after the men entered, but it was unclear what they were shooting at, authorities said.

As sheriff’s deputies armed with shotguns surrounded the store, the gunmen and hostages watched television inside, authorities said.

The four gunmen were believed to be Thai and were talking with authorities through an interpreter. Initially they asked for four bulletproof vests, but deputies delivered only one.

One deputy took off his uniform, removed his vest and turned it over to the gunmen. “One of our sergeants had to strip down to his shorts to make the exchange,” said Trish Guichard, a media assistant with the Sheriff’s Department.

Police blocked off streets in the busy commercial neighborhood, and thousands of people stood behind barricades in an effort to see the standoff.

The store is near an area that has been troubled in recent years by gangs of youths of Southeast Asian descent.

Times staff writer Ralph Frammolino contributed to this story.