Man Who Fired Rifle Surrenders to Deputies

A 55-year-old Lancaster man despondent because he was unemployed surrendered to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Friday after an eight-hour standoff at his home that began when he fired a rifle and his family fled in fear, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was not released, was being held for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center following the incident which began about 5 p.m. Thursday, Deputy Ron Thomason said.

The man’s wife called deputies after she and her teen-age son and daughter fled from the house near Jackman Street and Date Avenue when the man fired a rifle into the ceiling, Thomason said. The woman reported that her husband had been drinking and was despondent because he had recently lost a job and been unable to find another.

Deputies surrounded the house and a trained negotiator contacted the man by telephone. Deputies said that after several hours of talking with the negotiator, the man walked out the front door of the home at 1 a.m. Friday and surrendered.