Police chase and standoff end with wounded murder suspect taken into custody

A man suspected of gunning down a liquor store owner leaned out a car window during a chase and blasted away with a handgun before being dragged wounded from the car Friday.

There was no word on his condition as he was taken away in an ambulance.

He is believed to be the gunman who walked into a Downey liquor store on Tuesday night and shot down Gurpreet Singh, 44, of Cerritos, Downey Police Sgt. Mark Haxton said.

Authorities have said nothing was taken from the store and there was no immediate word on a motive for the attack.

The high-speed chase stretched along a freeway and surface streets, during which video showed a passenger in a black T-shirt lean halfway out of the front passenger’s window of a black Prius and fire two-handed at pursuing patrol cars.

Video showed the man using a distinctive long-barreled revolver strikingly similar to one that was used in the store killing.

The chase ended shortly before 3 p.m. at Downey Road and Bandini Boulevard in neighboring Vernon when traffic trapped the car and the passenger again fired. A car behind the Prius managed to back away, and police who pulled up in the next lane riddled the Prius with gunfire, shattering windows.

The female driver, who had blood on her, got out of the car with her arms raised and was detained, authorities said. There was no immediate word on her condition.

Police took cover behind the doors of their vehicles and shields as they waited for the armed suspect to exit the car.

The street was emptied, and Los Angeles County sheriff’s SWAT teams were called in. Two armored vehicles blocked in the Prius.

During a standoff that lasted more than an hour, authorities rolled a robot up to the open driver’s door to peer inside the car and later fired two flash-bang grenades into the vehicle.

When the man inside didn’t get out, a police dog was sent in to pull at him. Only then did SWAT members drag the motionless man from the car.

He was strapped to a gurney and taken away by ambulance. There was no word on his condition.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra