Suspect Who Barricaded Himself In Little Tokyo Store Surrenders
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A man who armed himself with a sword and a knife and barricaded himself inside a gift shop in Little Tokyo was taken into custody early Monday after an LAPD SWAT team flushed him out with tear gas.
The standoff began about 4:15 p.m. Sunday in a store in the Japanese Village Plaza at 335 East Second St., Los Angeles police Sgt. Ed Perez said.
The SWAT team negotiated with the suspect and used tear gas to get him to come out about 1:40 a.m., Perez said. He was taken to County USC Medical Center for observation.
The plaza had to be cleared when the suspect refused the owner's orders to put down a knife and ceremonial Samurai sword he grabbed in the store and assaulted a security guard in the store, Perez said. The guard was not injured.
The store was evacuated and officers locked the suspect inside until the SWAT team arrived and began negotiating with him, Perez said.
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