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Possible Hostage Situation Reported at Silver Lake Trader Joe’s Store: LAPD

Posted 4:32 PM, July 21, 2018, by CNN Wire, Updated at 05:58PM, July 21, 2018

An armed man barricaded himself inside a Trader Joe’s grocery store in Silver Lake, possibly with hostages, prompting a massive police response Saturday afternoon.

Events began with a shooting in the 1600 block of 32nd Street around 1:30 p.m. in which an elderly woman and a young woman were victims, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez told CNN.

The suspect fled in a 2015 Toyota Camry and during a police pursuit, the suspect fired multiple rounds at officers, Lopez said. None of the officers was injured.

The chase ended when the suspect crashed the vehicle, got out and ran into the store on Hyperion Avenue, Lopez said. Customers ran out of the store, he added.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said a 20-year-old female patient was transferred to a hospital in fair condition. She was removed from a vehicle, not the inside of the store, Stewart said.

“We are on standby and prepared to support but no confirmation how many patients may be inside,” Stewart added.

The mayor of Los Angeles and President Donald Trump both tweeted about the incident.

Public safety agencies responded in force, with an armored police vehicle parked outside the store and seven ambulances and dozens of law enforcement vehicles arriving on the scene.

Aerial video shot from a helicopter showed armed officers carrying shields and a man walking out with his hands up.

The video also showed officers carrying a person who appeared to be injured, as well as people climbing out of a store window and down a rope ladder.

https://ktla.com/2018/07/21/possible...es-store-lapd/