Gunman at Veterans Home of California in Yountville has 3 hostages; no contact with shooter
March 10, 2018 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Police: Active shooter, hostage situation at veterans home
Reports of shot fired in Yountville, California; witnesses say suspect is armed with military-style weapon and possibly wearing body armor.
An armed man took three hostages during an “active shooter situation” at a California veterans home Friday afternoon, officials confirmed, enacting a lockdown of the facility.
Authorities have not had any confirmed communication with the suspect since around 10:30 a.m., California Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Robert Nacke said during a brief evening news conference.
Authorities received a call of shots fired at the Yountville veterans home, described as the largest such facility in the country, at 10:20 a.m. prompting several law enforcement agencies to respond, Assistant Chief Chris Childs, of the CHP’s Golden Gate Division, said during an earlier news conference.
Within four minutes, a Napa County Sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene and encountered the suspect in one of the buildings, Childs said. Gunfire was exchanged.
“It’s not known at this time how many rounds were exchanged but I am happy to report that as of this moment, there have been no injuries,” he said.
The suspect is contained to one room, along with his three hostages, Childs said. Hostage negotiators from at least three agencies are at the scene, waiting to make contact with the individual.
Brian Goder, a resident of the veterans home who was under lockdown for hours in the main dining room of the veterans home, told The Associated Press that he saw more than a dozen armed troops walking to the building in which the suspect and hostages are located. The soldiers could be seen in a video he posted on Facebook, but it wasn’t immediately clear what agency they were from.
Also not immediately known: the suspect’s motives and his identity, which had yet to be publicly released.
A gunman is holding three people hostage inside the Yountville veterans home in California, police said.
(KTVU)
The hostages are reportedly not veterans home employees, but rather Pathway Home employees, a privately run program on the veterans home’s grounds. That group “serves post-9/11 veterans affected by deployment-related stress,” according to the Pathway Homes website.
In an interview with The AP, Larry Kamer said his wife, Devereaux Smith, a fundraiser for the nonprofit Pathway Home, told him by phone that the gunman had slipped quietly into an employee going-away party and staff meeting at the home. Some people were reportedly permitted to leave while others were taken hostage. Kamer said his wife is now inside the home’s dining hall and is not allowed to leave.
Childs characterized the situation as “very active and dynamic.”
The California Highway Patrol has assumed primary investigative jurisdiction over the situation because the veterans home is a state-owned facility, he said.
Napa County Sheriff John Robertson said authorities know who the suspect is, but he declined to provide a name. There have been several attempts to make contact with the individual since 10:30 a.m. by both cellphone and phones in the facility, he said.
Robertson added that he knows none of the deputies were injured but did not have an official status on the condition of the hostages. The suspect did release some people, he said, but kept the three people he is currently holding.
In all, 15 to 20 shots went off at the facility, police said, according to KTVU.
CHP Officer John Fransen told the outlet the sprawling property was evacuated after reports came in about an armed man on the grounds and law enforcement was working to build a secure perimeter.
Several law enforcement agencies responded to the hostage scene.
(KTVU)
“We do have an active shooter situation with a hostage situation in Yountville,” Fransen told KTVU.
A number of ambulances, fire trucks and an armored police vehicle were seen at the property.
A group of about 80 students who were on the home’s grounds were safely evacuated after being locked down, the sheriff said. The teens from Justin-Siena High School were at a theater there, rehearsing a play.
“They were a distance away from the shooting situation,” Robertson said.
Some of the children were driven away on school buses and others in cars.
The CHP is aware of the incident at the Yountville Veterans Home and has officers and aerial resources on scene working with Napa County Sheriff’s deputies and others to bring the situation to a safe conclusion. A CHP SWAT team is also enroute. More details as info is available.
— CHP Headquarters (@CHP_HQ) March 9, 2018
Earlier in the afternoon, The Press Democrat reported that family members of workers and residents were at the scene, anxiously awaiting word. Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa said his 22-year-old sister Vanessa Flores is a caregiver at the facility and was exchanging texts with family while sheltering in place with a client.
Flores told family she could hear people yelling “Get down! Get down!” She also asked her brother to ensure her 3-year-old son is taken care of if she should not survive the ordeal.
“I’m trying to be calm,” Juarez said.
According to the California Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Home of California in Yountville dates back to 1884 and is considered the largest veterans home in the U.S. with more than 1000 veterans from all wars dating back to World War II.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for more information. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lucia I. Suarez Sang is a Reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @luciasuarezsang
