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Inglewood shooting: Some residents evacuated as standoff continues

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Officers were starting to evacuate residents in an Inglewood neighborhood Wednesday evening as a tense standoff continued between police and an armed man barricaded inside a home.

An unknown suspect who is believed to be holding at least one person hostage reportedly exchanged fire with Inglewood police officers responding to a domestic disturbance earlier in the day. Two injured officers were taken to a hospital and are expected to recover, said Inglewood police spokesman Oscar Mejia.

Mejia said police were still putting together a plan to evacuate residents from the typically quiet neighborhood of well-kept, single-family homes. Speaking at a news conference, he urged neighbors to stay in their homes until a police officer knocks on the door and escorts them out.

Mejia said he could not confirm reports that a 14-year-old girl was being held hostage in the home.

“We don’t know how many there are if any at all but we are treating it as a hostage situation,” he said.

Several neighbors said they were preparing for Thanksgiving when a commotion broke out outside a home in the 10700 block of 5th Avenue.

One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said she was cooking when she heard screaming about 12:30 p.m. The woman said she ran outside and saw a man dragging her 14-year-old neighbor into the house.

Another neighbor, Kimberly Edwards, was on her way to the store to pick up supplies for Thursday’s dinner when she saw several police officers and a man pleading with them to rescue his sister, whom he said was being held captive in the house.

“I saw a panicked brother scream at the police officers: ‘Please get my sister out of that house, please get my sister out of that house,’ ” she said.

Shortly after, Edwards heard a barrage of gunfire. She said she saw a female officer staggering down the street and then collapse. Another officer came to her aid and carried her away, Edwards said.

Despite initial reports that two officers were shot, Inglewood Police Capt. James Madia said only one was hit by gunfire. The other officer sustained minor injuries, he said. Both are expected to recover.

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kate.linthicum@latimes.com

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