Long Beach police shoot and kill armed, barricaded suspect after standoff triggers City Hall lockdown

Police shot an armed man who threatened to blow up the federal building in Long Beach on Wednesday, ending a standoff that triggered a lockdown at City Hall, authorities said.

The suspect died at a local hospital, according to the Long Beach Police Department. No officers were injured.

The incident began shortly before 4 p.m., when a woman reported that her husband was making the threats and was armed in a white Chevy van, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Bradley Johnson.

Officers spotted a vehicle matching the description parked in the 300 block of West Ocean Boulevard, near City Hall. SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were called to the scene.

The man, who was not identified, was not complying with orders to put down the weapon.

Authorities closed Ocean Boulevard in both directions from Magnolia to Pacific avenues.

Before the shooting, Mayor Robert Garcia on Twitter said he was at City Hall with his staff and advised people to avoid the area. He tweeted that police were escorting city employees out of the building.

“Everyone in the building is safe,” he said.

Overnight, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department bomb technicians investigated the van along with two other vehicles associated with the suspect, a Long Beach garage and a box cargo truck in Granada Hills, said Deputy Grace Medrano, a department spokeswoman. They did not find any explosives or suspicious items.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek

UPDATES:

March 8, 8:50 a.m.: This article was updated with confirmation of the suspect’s death.

March 8, 7:15 a.m.: This article was updated with information about the suspect’s status and the bomb technicians’ investigation

March 7, 6:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information about the shooting of the suspect.

5:40 p.m.: This article was updated with new details from Long Beach police.

This article was originally published at 5 p.m.