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By Polly Mosendz
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An unidentified gunman was killed in Los Angeles late Thursday evening after stealing two cars, leading police on a dangerous chase and then holding hostages at Chris' and Pitt's BBQ Restaurant in Downey, about 12 miles southeast of downtown L.A. The man was shot and killed after a two-hour standoff with police, according to Reuters. It remains to be determined if he took his own life or if he was shot by police.
Before entering the restaurant, the gunman stole two vehicles during a dangerous chase, in one instance threatening a driver at gunpoint. The suspect weaved through crowded traffic lanes and sped through intersections throughout neighborhoods in Montebello, Monterey Park, East Los Angeles and Commerce, according to ABC Los Angeles. The chase ended when the man crashed.
It was then that the suspect ran into Chris' and Pitt's BBQ Restaurant on the 9200 block of Lakewood Boulevard, barricading himself inside with an estimated six hostages. As he was running into the restaurant, the man fired his weapon into the air, NBC Los Angeles reported.
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Some inside the restaurant were able to escape, but others were specifically held by the gunman. "He came in there, and he said, 'Get down, get down,'" Roman Ruiz, a cook, told NBC. "He grabbed one of our employees because she looked at him."
"We all got down on the ground," an unidentified witness told Reuters. "I saw the guy with the gun, and he was asking, 'I need medication, someone give me medicine.'"
After two hours, officers entered the restaurant. Shots were exchanged with the gunman. None of the hostages and no policemen were injured in the incident.
"It was extraordinary. You could tell by his driving that he had absolutely no concern for the public," said Commander Michael Parker, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman. "He showed it between his driving a stolen car, carjacking a car at gunpoint, shooting his gun. This was a very dangerous night for law enforcement and the public."
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