Shootout, fire end police standoff in Washington

Shootout, fire end police standoff in Washington

HOQUIAM, Wash. (AP) — A two-day police standoff at a home in the Washington coastal town of Hoquiam ended just before dawn today when a man who had holed up there after allegedly wounding an officer got into a shootout with authorities and the house erupted in flames.

The man came out of the home at about 6 a.m. and went down in an exchange of gunfire with officers, Hoquiam Police Sgt. Brian Dayton told KOMO (http://bit.ly/YVOG47 ). Moments later the house was on fire.

There has been no word on the condition of the suspect or the cause of the blaze, which destroyed the home.

Video showed the house engulfed in flames as firefighters arrived, and authorities pulling back a robot that had been used in the standoff.

KBKW and KXRO reported police first went to the home Tuesday and arrested a 53-year-old woman. Four officers returned Wednesday morning to arrest the 49-year-old man on a warrant from Sacramento for felony fraud.

The man shot one of the officers in the side, wounding him, authorities said. The other officers returned fire, and the suspect barricaded himself on the upper floor of the home.

Police then surrounded the home and tried to talk the man into surrendering. They also fired tear gas into the house and apparently used flash-bang noise makers to keep him awake through the night.

Officers believe the man had a gas mask. They said he disabled two police robots sent into the house.

Authorities who responded to the standoff included a police team made up of officers from throughout the area and the Washington State Patrol. They evacuated neighbors and closed streets to keep people out of the range of possible gunfire.