UPDATED 11:05 p.m. ET: Three women and the suspected gunman that took them hostage have died following an hours long standoff at veterans care facility in Yountville, California, the Los Angeles Timesreports. The standoff lasted for around eight hours. An officer found the bodies after entering the room where they were located.
Original story below:
Law enforcement swarmed a California veterans home Friday morning after receiving reports of a gunman who had taken several people hostage.
According to the Mercury News, the Yountville Veterans Home in Napa County was placed on lockdown after a man reportedly opened fire in the facility’s primary dining hall. Authorities said no injuries have been reported; however, the suspect has taken a clinical worker, a psychiatrist, and an executive director hostage. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have sent agents to the scene to assist Napa County Sheriff’s deputies. The standoff is still occurring.
The incident is said to have began at around 10:20 a.m., when a man wearing body armor stormed into the dinning hall with what appeared to be a high-powered rifle. Shortly after the first shots were fired, the Napa County Sheriff's Department sent out an alert to nearby residents, urging them to stay away from the area. The California Department of Veterans Affairs issued the following update Friday afternoon:
The gunman has yet to be identified; however, several outlets report he is believed to have been a member of the Pathway Home, a privately run program for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Authorities have yet to provide a motive.
According to California VA spokeswoman June Iljana, Yountville Veterans Home houses about 850 individuals and employees about 300 people. It is said to be the largest veterans’ residence community in the country.
“I don’t know the world we live in today, I really don’t. This is a little community and we all know each other,” Elizabeth Naylor, who works 10 miles north of the veterans home, told the Associated Press. “Napa Valley is a wonderful, beautiful place and to know this is in your background, it’s unsettling.”
This story is developing.
