Police Sieges

A former prison guard, apparently upset over a failed romantic relationship, stormed an Irvine home, fatally shot a 60-year-old man and wounded two others before surrendering to police early Saturday morning, police said. Responding to a report of a residential robbery about 9 p.m. Friday, police arrived at the quiet Woodbridge neighborhood to discover that 24-year-old Alwyn Gibson II of Fairfield, Texas, had barricaded himself inside the home of his ex-girlfriend's family, police said.

In a victory for the Los Angeles Police Department, a judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit filed by the mother of a toddler killed by a SWAT officer's bullet during an attempted hostage rescue in 2005. The case before L.A. County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu was set to go to the jury this week after SWAT officers and police experts completed their testimony in a two-week trial.

A burglary suspect who barricaded himself inside a house in Winnetka was arrested Saturday after SWAT team officers disabled him with tear gas and then stormed in, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The 11-hour standoff ended about 2:35 a.m. when police arrested Michael Krieger, 32. Police said he had been wanted in connection with a string of auto burglaries. Police said the incident began Friday afternoon in the 20600 block of Saticoy Street when Krieger spotted officers in the area and fled into the house.

Seconds before two armed robbers emerged from a Ventura Boulevard bank on Wednesday, four members of an elite Los Angeles Police Department team were on the scene prepared for exactly that kind of activity. The officers, part of the LAPD's Metro Division, were patrolling along Ventura Boulevard in the West Valley at the request of robbery detectives investigating a rash of recent bank holdups in the area.

After a 14-hour standoff in which phone calls and tear gas failed to sway a heavily armed, barricaded suspect, Los Angeles police dusted off a tool of the '80s--the tank-like battering ram--to plow into a Boyle Heights home and arrest the man. Glenn Edward Rivas, 37, a six-year Army veteran, was taken into custody Tuesday night.

A man reportedly despondent over painful back problems was found dead in his home of an apparent drug and alcohol overdose early Tuesday by members of the Los Angeles police SWAT team called to rescue the man's 6-year-old daughter. The girl was unharmed and still sleeping despite a number of gunshots fired in the house by her father and mother earlier in the night, police said.

A man who was distraught over marital problems shot and wounded his estranged wife outside her Canyon Country condominium Monday, then barricaded himself inside and killed the couple's 3-year-old son and himself, sheriff's deputies said. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department SWAT team stormed the building and found the man and child dead after trying unsuccessfully to contact him by telephone and bullhorn for four hours.

A man who was distraught over marital problems shot and wounded his estranged wife outside her condominium Monday, then barricaded himself inside and killed the couple's 3-year-old son and himself, sheriff's deputies said. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department SWAT team stormed the residence and found the man and child dead, after four hours of attempting to contact him by telephone and bullhorn.

A woman police wanted in connection with failing to make a scheduled court appearance was captured early Tuesday morning after a five-hour standoff with the Special Weapons and Tactics team. Members of the team fired tear gas into her apartment to force her out, according to Sgt. Dan Mastro of the West Valley Division. Police did not release the woman's name. Mastro said the incident began at about 10 p.m.

A homeless man accused of firing shots into the air and engaging police in a two-hour standoff pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges. Tommy Anderson Clark, 37, was charged with one count each of brandishing a firearm at an occupant of a vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held on $30,000 bail and a preliminary hearing was set May 21.