California suspect shot while holding gun to baby’s head

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) — A suspect barricaded for nearly 20 hours in a north Los Angeles County mobile home was fatally shot when he placed a gun to a baby’s head, authorities said Thursday.

The child was not hurt in the Wednesday night shooting, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. The department did not immediately release any information on the suspect’s identity or connection to the baby.

However, Ellandra Rosas identified herself as the suspect’s aunt and told KTLA-TV that the child was his son. She said the infant was just over a year old.

She said her nephew had seemed fine and was playing with the child when she talked to him earlier Tuesday.

The incident began Tuesday night with a high-speed vehicle chase. Around 1 a.m. Wednesday the suspect fired multiple rounds at pursuing California Highway Patrol officers, authorities said.

The pursuit ended in mobile home community in the high desert city of Lancaster.

“The suspect exited the vehicle with the infant child, had the handgun pointed to the infant’s head and slowly walked away from our officers,” CHP Sgt. Alejandro Rubio told reporters.

The suspect barricaded himself in a home and the CHP called in a sheriff’s tactical team.

“The suspect placed a gun to the child’s head while deputy personnel attempted to communicate with him, at which time a deputy involved shooting occurred,” the Sheriff’s Department statement said.

The suspect died at the scene, a firearm was recovered and homicide detectives took over the investigation.