Standoff Tests Residents’ Stamina : Barricade: Many of those evacuated from their apartments during the 19-hour police siege spend the night on the street or in their cars.

What started as a routine police call for a suspected prowler turned into 19 hours of weariness and frustration for residents of the Villa Rio Vista apartment complex evacuated by police during a weekend siege.

Some of the dozens evacuated by police spent the night on the street, wearing little to protect them from the chill night air. Some passed the time in their cars. Others sought refuge with friends or relatives.

Others hid out in their apartments, waiting for the standoff to end.

Eventually, many ended up in a shelter opened by the Red Cross in a local elementary school. Most of those evacuated were allowed back into their apartments at 8 p.m., about three hours after the standoff ended with the gunman’s capture.

Bruce J. Buehner, whose apartment was just 50 feet from where the armed suspect was barricaded, first realized the gravity of the situation when he awoke to shots fired and indistinguishable police bullhorn conversations early in the morning.

“The first . . . I knew what was going on was probably about 10 minutes to three (a.m.),” he said. “I heard four shots, and about 10 (minutes) after (3 a.m.), another two or three.”

But Buehner said he couldn’t tell how close the shots and bullhorn conversations actually were. So he stayed put.

“It wasn’t until the morning when I took the garbage out,” Buehner said, that he came upon black-hooded police officers, crouched in the recesses of the apartment complex.

“When I got down to the end of the hallway I looked to my left and . . . there were two or three SWAT officers down there with their ninja outfits on,” he said. “So I did an about-face, went back to my apartment and called the police and said: ‘I’d like to get out; can I?’ ”

Minutes later police evacuated Buehner and several of his neighbors, he said.

Claudia Aguilar, 21, said she and five other family members living in her apartment were evacuated by police at 9:15 p.m. Saturday after they heard banging and screaming from the apartment next door.

Not anticipating a 19-hour standoff, Aguilar said, she and her family waited in the street nearby. They wound up waiting all night.

“It was real cold,” said Aguilar, who was clad in a blouse and shorts. Her sister, Sandra, was with her two children. Denisse, 2, and Deyanira, 5 months, who was wearing only a T-shirt and diapers. “The baby was crying all night,” Claudia Aguilar said.

To pass the time, the sisters said they walked back and forth to the shopping center on the corner.

Occasionally shots rang out from the apartment where police said Brian Main had barricaded himself. Claudia Aguilar said she heard shots fired at 3 a.m. and again at 6 a.m.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at 8 a.m. at the Rio Vista Elementary School, a few blocks north of the apartment complex. Asked why the refuge center wasn’t opened during the night, Annie Luger, a spokeswoman for the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross, said that the agency wasn’t notified of the situation until Sunday morning.

Sandwiches, granola bars, coffee and lemonade were available. The school showed “The Little Mermaid” and “Bambi” to help children pass the time. Cots and blankets were laid out for the weary. Children with more energy played on swings outside.

“People are doing so well. Everyone’s real resilient,” said Red Cross volunteer Graceann Larsen.

“We’re feeling a little better because we’ve got a shelter here,” said Alicia Aguilar, 51, mother of Sandra and Claudia Aguilar.

Red Cross volunteers said residents from at least 15 apartments reported to the shelter, but most did not stay.

“People have been coming and going because they’re bored stiff,” said John McClanahan, principal at Rio Vista Elementary School.

Late Sunday afternoon, the Red Cross moved the shelter site to Katella High School, and served dinner to remaining evacuees.

While most residents were allowed to return home about 8 p.m., those whose apartments were damaged were taken to a hotel.

Residents returning to their apartments were grateful the violence was limited, especially those who left loved ones behind.

“I’m worried about my cat,” said Jan Renfro, a nurse. “We’re right across from the walkway where the shooting occurred. “The police told me he’s probably OK, but I’m still worried.”