A gunman who once served in the U.S. military exchanged fire with police on Friday at a California veterans home, where he held three employees hostage as police negotiators sought to make contact with him for nearly eight hours, authorities said.
A gunman who once served in the U.S. military exchanged fire with police on Friday at a California veterans home, where he held three employees hostage as police negotiators sought to make contact with him for nearly eight hours, authorities said.
No injuries were initially reported at the sprawling facility in Yountville, a picturesque town located in the heart of Napa Valley's wine country about 60 miles (97 km) north of San Francisco. The building, its staff and residents were placed under a security lockdown.
"We've had no confirmed communications with the gunman since 10:30 a.m.," California Highway Patrol (CHP) spokesman Robert Nacke told reporters at a late-evening news briefing.
The stand-off comes less than a month after a former student with an assault-style rifle killed 17 people at a Florida high school. The massacre touched off a student-led drive for new restrictions on gun ownership to prevent the kind of mass shootings that have become an epidemic in the United States.
State Senator Bill Dodd, who represents the area, told reporters that the California gunman was a member of the Pathway Home, a program for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
The hostages were believed to be employees who worked with the suspect in the Pathway program, he said.
The Veterans Home of California, which houses about 1,000 disabled and aging military veterans, is the largest facility of its kind in the United States.
An employee who encountered the gunman told her husband, Larry Kamer, by telephone that the three hostages were women, he said. "She's quite shaken up. She's in a locked-down building," Kamer said of his wife, who is development director for the non-profit organization that runs the home.
The facility was holding a going-away party for some employees when the gunman walked calmly into a room holding a rifle, she told him.
"We’re just on pins and needles now, hoping this gets resolved and nobody gets hurt," Kamer told reporters outside the facility.
Hostage negotiators from three different agencies were trying to make contact with the suspect, the CHP said.
"Gunfire was exchanged. It's not known at this time how many rounds were exchanged, but I am happy to report that at this moment there have been no injuries," CHP spokesman Chris Childs told reporters.
A Napa County sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene within four minutes of the first reports of gunfire and exchanged shots with the suspect, Sheriff John Robertson said. Authorities know the gunman's identity, he said, but were not disclosing his name publicly.
A resident of the home, identified as Rod Allen by the CBS television affiliate KPIX, said the gunman took the hostages after allowing some people at a party to leave. He fired about 30 shots, the resident said.
The California Department of Veterans Affairs could not be reached immediately for comment but said in a Facebook post it was following reports of gunfire at the home.
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