Dramatic footage has captured the moment a SWAT team shot dead a gunman who took a hostage and barricaded himself inside an apartment complex, following a random spree where he shot a 14-year-old boy in the head.
LAPD officers stormed a building near the Skid Row district in downtown Los Angeles Friday after the man, who has not been identified, embarked on a horrifying shooting spree that afternoon.
The rampage saw the suspect attempt to shoot a man in the head, open fire on a family inside a local business and attempt to carjack a woman, before he entered the apartment building and took a woman hostage.
The gunman was shot and killed by officers during the raid on the apartment which was captured on cellphone footage from a building opposite.
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Dramatic footage has captured the moment a SWAT team shot dead a gunman who took a hostage and barricaded himself inside an apartment complex, following a random spree where he shot a 14-year-old boy in the head
The incident unfolded around 4:10pm when the suspect allegedly randomly walked up to a man on the sidewalk near 8th and Broadway and tried to shoot him at point-blank range in the head.
The LAPD said in a Twitter thread that the suspect held a gun to the man’s face and pulled the trigger, but ‘fortunately the gun did not fire’.
From there, the suspect entered a business in the 700 block of Broadway where three family members, including a 14-year-old boy, were inside.
He opened fire on the group with a bullet grazing the teen in the head.
The gunman then continued on his rampage heading to the area of 6th and Spring where he attempted to carjack a woman.
When the suspect couldn’t get inside the car he fled to 7th and Spring where he ‘struggled’ with a man that was riding a bike.
Cops, who had received several 911 calls of the random attacks by this point, chased the suspect who ran into the apartment complex on 6th Street and South Main Street, where he took a victim hostage.
SWAT and K9 units were called in and police found surveillance footage inside the building.
The footage showed the suspect in a hallway armed with a gun forcing a female to come with him, the LAPD said.
Cellphone footage shot by a bystander from the building opposite shows a man in a white t-shirt appearing to point a gun at the head of the hostage in front of the large windows
The gunman then drags the woman away from the window to another spot in the room. A series of loud flash-bangs go off illuminating the rooms
The man grabs his hostage and pulls her to the furthest room from the entrance and out of sight into darkness
‘At that point, we knew we had a hostage situation,’ the LAPD said.
Through a window, officers could see the suspect holding a gun to the hostage’s head, police said.
Cellphone footage shot by a bystander from the building opposite captured the terrifying ordeal.
The video shows a man in a white t-shirt appearing to point a gun at the head of the hostage in front of the large apartment windows.
The hostage, who is in dark clothing, is kneeled down on the ground while the man is standing.
The gunman then drags the woman away from the window to another spot in the room.
He is seen strolling around the apartment before a loud flash-bang is heard, which causes the man to duck down.
SWAT team officers are seen swarming the apartment with their firearms pointed and several gunshots are heard
Police said the suspect was shot by an officer and died on the scene. The hostage was taken to hospital
Several more bangs are heard and the man is seen running back and forth toward what appears to be the entrance to the apartment close to the stairwell.
At least one SWAT agent is then seen on the stairwell outside the apartment.
The suspect runs back through the apartment grabbing his hostage along the way and pulling her to the furthest room from the entrance and out of sight into darkness.
At least five SWAT team officers swarm the apartment with their firearms pointed and several gunshots are heard.
Police said the suspect was shot by an officer and died on the scene.
The terrifying ordeal took place just eight blocks away from another hostage situation two days earlier where a woman took someone hostage with a gun (pictured the scene)
The 14-year-old boy and the hostage were both taken to local hospital, where they are expected to survive.
The terrifying ordeal took place just eight blocks away from another hostage situation two days earlier.
On Wednesday night, LAPD officers were called to reports of a woman with a gun near Arcadia Street and Spring Street, reported KTLA.
The suspect then allegedly emerged from a tent, armed and with a hostage.
Police said an officer shot the woman and she was taken to hospital. No other injuries were reported.