A parolee was arrested after barricading himself with a hostage inside a Long Beach fourplex overnight, police said.
The incident began just before 10 p.m. Wednesday when police responded to the 2000 block of East Ocean Boulevard regarding a man with a gun who fired shots into the air, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Police Department confirmed to KTLA.
Arriving officers saw the suspect fleeing and then running into a residence in the area of Gaviota Avenue and 1st Street.
The spokesperson also confirmed that a hostage was inside the residence with the suspect.
Around 2 a.m., video showed the male hostage briefly standing in the doorway apparently to show police that he was OK before going back into the home.
The suspect, later identified by police as 31-year-old Erick Smith, could also be seen in the video standing near the hostage and then guiding him back into the residence.
A SWAT team was sent to the scene to negotiate with the suspect, who eventually released the hostage around 4 a.m.
The victim told KTLA’s Carlos Herrera that he and his wife were OK. The man’s wife was apparently able to escape to an upstairs unit at some point during the incident.
A short time later, officers deployed gas into the residence and took Smith into custody, police said.
Smith was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, burglary, obstructing a peace officer, felon in possession of a firearm, assault with a firearm and false imprisonment.
His bail was set at $1.2 million.
