Gunman, Hostage And Employees Shot At Lancaster Restaurant

LANCASTER, CA — A gunman is dead and three people are wounded following a shoutout and hostage standoff in a Lancaster restaurant early Monday morning.

It started with an argument shortly after midnight at the Culichi Town restaurant 42100 block of Sierra Highway, according to the los Angeles Sheriff's Department and witnesses. The slain suspect reportedly got into a shootout with a security guard. According to authorities, he took hostage a woman, who was shot along with two other men. In the end, the hostage, a security guard, a restaurant employee, and the gunman all suffered gunshot wounds. The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene. The other three were rushed to nearby hospitals in unknown condition.

"Lancaster Station deputies responded to the location regarding an assault with a deadly weapon call. The caller indicated that an individual inside the restaurant shot at security guards and the suspect was possibly still at the location,"the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced. "When deputies arrived, they discovered one of the security guards in-front of the location suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso. He indicated that the suspect was still inside the location. Also outside the location was another male victim (employee of location) who suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound during the incident"

A sheriff's SWAT team rescued the woman and found the suspect inside the restaurant dead, according to Deputy Trina Schrader of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.

The two other men were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, she said. It was not clear whether they were taken by ambulance or private vehicles and the conditions of the wounded people were not immediately available.

The slain gunman was a 51-year-old man, and the wounded woman is 43 years old. The wounded security guard is 44, investigators said.

The wounded employee suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot to the lower torso.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.