3 deputies shot, suspect killed in Northern California standoff

Three sheriff’s deputies were shot and a suspect was killed in a shooting that followed an hours-long standoff in Northern California, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The shooting happened Thursday at a home in Knightsen, the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The area is an unincorporated community about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Deputies were called to a home for reported domestic violence just before 10 a.m., the release said.

A woman who said she had been held hostage overnight was able to escape, while the man was barricaded inside, the sheriff’s office said.

The office said the suspect shot at deputies throughout the day. The county’s SWAT and hostage negotiation teams spent the afternoon and early evening asking the suspect to surrender, according to the statement.

The suspect, who was not immediately identified, came out of the house just before 9 p.m. and shot three members of the SWAT team, and the deputies returned fire, the sheriff’s office said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. Two deputies were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were unknown.

The sheriff’s office said more information would be released later Friday.