Suspected carjacker surrenders in standoff with hostages at Antioch gas station

A suspected carjacker armed with a gun surrendered after an hours-long standoff during which he held two people hostage at a gas station in Antioch, according to media reports.

The man surrendered after 3 p.m. Thursday and both hostages were unharmed, KTVU reported.

Witnesses said the standoff began after noon at the Arco station off Highway 4 and Contra Loma Boulevard after the suspect crashed his vehicle at an intersection and ran out of the car and into the gas station, which had two people inside.

“It sounds very bad right now, there’s almost 20 or 25 police cars out there and a SWAT team and two helicopters,” Mark Saleh, store manager at the 7-Eleven across the street from the gas station, said during the standoff.

“We saw all the police stop, there were so many in my parking lot. Then I realized something was going on and looked outside and they were all over the place,” Saleh said.

Antioch police Chief Allan Cantando told reporters at a news conference that the suspect had taken two hostages who were in the gas station at the time, and police were in negotiations with him to end the standoff. Cantando did not say whether the hostages were employees or customers, or their gender or age.

Nearby schools were locked down and the California Highway Patro had closed the on- and offramps in the area, authorities said.

The standoff came after a police pursuit that started when the man carjacked a person in Antioch, Cantando said. The man fled to Concord where he carjacked a second person, the chief said. The man led police through at least two other cities before he returned to Antioch, police said.

The man ran into the gas station after a third carjacking attempt was unsuccessful, Cantando said. As he ran toward the gas station, he turned and shot at a CHP officer with a handgun, Cantando said. The officer fired back but it was unclear whether he hit the gunman. No officers were injured.

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