Shot suspect is in critical condition

A man shot by SWAT officers after he allegedly pointed an assault rifle at them during a standoff remained in critical condition Wednesday, authorities said.

Officers confronted the man Tuesday night at an apartment building on Topeka, where a woman said her husband had beaten her and then barricaded himself in a bedroom, Irvine Police Lt. Rick Handfield said.

After the woman and her three children were escorted from the apartment, officers tried to talk to the man. SWAT officers tried to negotiate with him by telephone until about 11:40 p.m., when he appeared at the apartment door with a military-style assault rifle, Handfield said. The man crouched and allegedly pointed the rifle at SWAT officers, who shot him in response, Handfield said.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital where he was in critical condition, Handfield said. No officers were injured.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske