A Lancaster community awoke Wednesday to a frightening scene after dozens of deputies surrounded a trailer home where an armed man was barricaded with a toddler for hours.
The man was holed up inside the trailer with a 17-month-old toddler, according to the California Highway Patrol. Hostage negotiators tried to convince the gunman to surrender the child.
At some point during the standoff, the man was fatally shot by deputies.
"The suspect placed a gun to the child’s head while deputy personnel attempted to communicate with him, at which time a deputy involved shooting occurred," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
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The child did not appear to be injured.
A family member told NBCLA the child is the man's son.
Authorities said the standoff began with a dangerous, high-speed chase on the 14 Freeway near Santa Clarita. The man was driving his white Kia SUV recklessly at over 100 mph with a toddler in the backseat.
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As the pursuit continued through Palmdale, the man fired his weapon near 17th Street East and Avenue Q. No officers were injured.
Then the gunman drove through a trailer community in Lancaster and went inside the home on Avenue I while threatening to shoot the toddler.
The CHP contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who dispatched a SWAT team to the scene.
It’s not clear whether the man lives in the barricaded home. They were the only people inside the residence, authorities said.
