A police chase that began in Los Angeles concluded with the armed carjacker entering a home in Long Beach, where he stabbed a man in the face with a kitchen knife, took the family hostage, and shot two of the sons, before shooting himself in the head.
NBC L.A. reports that one of the victims said a man burst into his family's home on Daisy Avenue on Friday, following a chase that began at around 9:40 a.m. that morning.
"They're all OK right now," he said. According to KTLA, the man and his brother were shot by the carjacking suspect, who police say they attempted to initially pull over for driving a stolen Volkswagen Passat near South Vermont Avenue and West 182nd Street, on the border of the Gardena and Harbor Gateway neighborhoods.
When the driver failed to stop, a pursuit ensued. At one point, about three miles from the initial attempt to pull the driver over, a male passenger armed with a gun fled on foot, while the driver continued, at one point, driving the wrong way on the 110 freeway. This driver is still at large.
Next, during another brief stop, one of the carjacking suspects emerged from the Passat and allegedly fired shots at the occupants of a burgundy Dodge Durango, according to KTLA. Those in the Durango were unharmed, but one of the men from the Passat drove off in the SUV, which police pursued.
"The officers chose to chase the Durango, as opposed to the Passat, because now we knew that that suspect had a gun and had just fired at that victim" said LAPD spokesman Lt. John Jenal.
According to the LAPD, the carjacker shot at police as he continued to drive. Officers followed the Durango into Long Beach, where it crashed on Maine Avenue and Wardlow Road. The carjacker then locked himself inside the home on Daisy Avenue, where he held those inside hostage.
The father, who was allegedly stabbed in the face, managed to escape, and told police that his two sons were inside. When police heard gunshots coming from inside the home, they "initiated an immediate-action, rapid-deployment tactic to try and rescue any victims inside," Jenal said.
Police said the suspect had apparently shot himself in the head, and remains in critical condition at a local hospital.
The two brothers inside sustained gunshot wounds to their legs and bodies, according to the LAPD. A third brother had managed to escape through a bathroom window.
According to the LAPD, the father and his two sons, who sustained gunshot wounds to the legs and bodies, are listed in stable condition. A third brother escaped through a bathroom window, and was unharmed.
