Gunman Held After Firing on Firefighters in 5-Hour Siege

A North Hollywood man was arrested Sunday night after he shot at firefighters, police and neighbors, then held authorities at bay for more than five hours, police said.

No one was injured, but about 50 people were evacuated during the siege.

Los Angeles police said the gunman, identified as Bob Gonzalez, 37, was captured about 9 p.m. when tear gas was fired into his home in the 5700 block of Cartwright Avenue and a Special Weapons and Tactics Team entered. Gonzalez was found with a handgun, hiding in the attic, police said.

Gonzalez, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, was being held at the North Hollywood Division Jail pending a psychiatric examination, Officer George O’Connor said.

The incident began about 3:30 p.m. when a crew of Los Angeles firefighters arrived to investigate a natural gas leak and were fired on after stopping their truck in front of Gonzalez’s home.

“When our people got there, he just started shooting at them,” Fire Department dispatcher John Patchett said.

The firefighters and a neighbor who was standing nearby scrambled for cover. The fire truck, left in the road in front of the single-family house, was fired on by the gunman, police said.

The man continued to fire shots as officers arrived and began evacuating nearby residents, police said. The sound of sporadic shooting could be heard throughout the standoff.

Officials were uncertain Sunday night whether there actually was a gas leak. Police had feared that if there was a leak, the gunfire could cause an explosion.

“There wasn’t any evidence to suggest there was a gas leak,” firefighter Greg Gahek said,

Hugo Fierro, a Cartwright Avenue resident who was standing in front of the home when firefighters arrived, said the first shot was fired as a firefighter headed toward the house to check the gas connection in the rear. He said the shot blew out a window at a nearby home.

Fierro said he did not believe the man with the gun meant to hurt people.

“He was just trying to scare people,” Fierro said.

Times staff writers Kirk Jackson and Ray Sanchez contributed to this story.