Standoff With Police Ends as Gunman Kills Himself

A suicidal gunman fired several rifle shots at Los Angeles police officers and took cover at a residence Sunday, fatally shooting a horse, a dog and finally himself and forcing the closure of a freeway for several hours, authorities said.

No officers or area residents were injured during a more than two-hour standoff between the gunman and police on Gladstone Avenue, said Officer Lorie Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The gunman, identified by police as Michael Kanan, 39, shot himself in the head at about 1:25 p.m. Police had received the initial call of a man with a gun in the Sylmar neighborhood near the Foothill Freeway at 11:07 a.m.

Police summoned a bomb squad after finding a device believed to be explosive strapped to the dead man’s torso. The device turned out to be a safety flare inside a container, police said.

“Our indications are that he was somewhat despondent over a recent death in the family,” an aunt, said Lt. Joseph Garcia, commanding officer at the LAPD’s Foothill Division.

Garcia said Kanan’s mother, who police believe lives at 13371 Gladstone Ave., and several other relatives had been at the scene but left without being harmed or taken hostage. Officers said they believe Kanan also lived at the house, but neighbors said they never saw him around the property.

The standoff led the California Highway Patrol to close the Foothill Freeway from its interchange with the Simi Valley Freeway to Polk Street for several hours, said Kerri Hawkins, a CHP spokeswoman.

Taylor said officers arrived at 13371 Gladstone Ave. shortly after 11 a.m. and were greeted by three rifle shots.

“The suspect barricaded himself” at the scene, which includes a large yard and white wooden house with brick foundation set several feet from the street. Behind it are sheds and a barn-like structure.

Officers surrounded the property, where since early Sunday morning Kanan had been moving around and occasionally firing gunshots into the air.

Garcia said Kanan was carrying a handgun in addition to an “assault-type rifle.”

On a search of the property, authorities discovered the corpses of a horse and a dog that had been shot.

Officers thought the incident was over, but then realized Kanan was wearing a possibly explosive device. A bomb squad examined the device, and police announced late Sunday afternoon that it was harmless.

Hernandez is a Times staff writer and Folmar is a correspondent.