Police: Suspect shot hostages, killing one, after wounding officer

By Rich Pedroncelli and Stephania Dazio | Associated Press

ROSEVILLE — A man was arrested after he shot and killed one person and wounded two others, including a highway patrol officer, at a park Thursday in Northern California, authorities said.

Multiple police agencies began to descend on Roseville, a city northeast of Sacramento, in the early afternoon.

California Highway Patrol officers were serving a warrant to the suspect when he began shooting at them, Roseville Police Capt. Kelby Newton said. One CHP officer was struck by gunfire, he said.

When police arrived, officers confronted the suspect, who was still carrying a gun and was seen running from officers at a city park, Newton said. The suspect took two hostages, then surrendered to officers on the scene.

Both hostages were shot and one of them died, officials said. The condition of the surviving hostage wasn’t immediately known.

The wounded officer was hospitalized in stable condition.

The names of the victims were not disclosed. The violence occurred near baseball fields, forcing a lockdown at the park. Students attending camps were taken to a nearby school to be reunited with their families.

Two local hospitals said a total of three people were being treated for unspecified injuries. Two were at Sutter Roseville Medical Center with unknown injuries, according to spokesperson Gary Zavoral, while a third was at Dignity Health Mercy San Juan Medical Center.

Roseville is a city of about 150,000 residents roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento.

A large police presence had earlier descended on a park in Roseville for an “active law enforcement situation,” the Roseville Police Department said on Twitter around 1:50 p.m.

“The scene is safe at this time,” the police department said about 30 minutes later. People were urged to avoid the area.

Earlier, a police dispatcher said the department was responding to a shooter but that no other details were immediately available.

A lockdown was lifted at a local fitness center and library, the Roseville Police Department said.

All the children participating in camps were safe, the city’s Parks, Recreation and Events Department had said in a Facebook post.

“Please avoid the area and do not attempt to pick up your children from camp until the situation is resolved and we provide further direction,” the department wrote.

The fitness center is a sprawling sports complex at the edge of a large park with a gym, basketball court and playground.

Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Adam Beam in Sacramento, California, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.