LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A 15-minute string of shootings, carjackings and a kidnapping led to a hostage situation in a Southern California church before the suspect shot himself to death, police said.
The violence began in Long Beach shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday.
A man was wounded by gunfire and then a woman was shot at but not hit. She then was carjacked but the vehicle shut off and the assailant could not flee.
Another man was wounded by gunfire and the assailant then pointed a gun at another woman driver and got in the vehicle with her. During the carjacking, police said, the assailant fired at a bystander and grazed him.
“The suspect then kidnapped the female adult carjacking victim, forcing her to drive her car with him as passenger away from the area,” police said in a statement.
The investigation led to a church in the city of Carson where the suspect was inside with the carjacking victim and several other adults who knew him.
After a SWAT team arrived, the carjacking victim was able to get out of the building before gunshots were heard and the suspect was found with self-inflicted wounds.
The name of the suspect, a 29-year-old resident of Long Beach, was not immediately released.
