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A tense situation continues to unfold this morning in El Segundo at the offices of a local business where an employee has taken her manager hostage at gunpoint.The incident began at around 8:20 a.m. at Popcornopolis, a gourmet popcorn business, when a female employee in her 20s walked in armed with a handgun and ordered all the workers out except for her manager, according to El Segundo police Capt. Bob Turnbull, reports the L.A. Times.
Turnbull says police are engaged in negotiations with the woman, who is locked inside an office.
“We have [the office] surrounded and we’re trying to end [the incident] peacefully," adds Turnbull.
It is not known what the woman's threats or demands are, nor other details about her identity, notes the Daily Breeze.
Police in El Segundo have secured the surrounding area.
UPDATE 11:57 AM: The suspect has been taken into custody, according to City News Service.
UPDATE 4:22PM: The suspect has been identified as Leonora Banuelos. El Segundo Police say Banuelos held the Popcornopolis Chief Financial Officer hostage today during a standoff that lasted nearly three hours. Banuelos was "distraught over a failed relationship with another co-worker."
She has been booked for Assault with a Deadly Weapon, False Imprisonment along with Criminal Threats and is currently being held on $100,000.00 bail.
