Long Beach Barricade Suspect Dead

LONG BEACH (CNS) - An investigation will be conducted today into the death of a man shot by officers as he held off police in a busy section of downtown Long Beach while armed during the afternoon rush hour.

The armed man was spotted about 3:55 p.m. Wednesday in a white van on Ocean Boulevard, prompting the street to be closed to vehicle traffic and pedestrians between Magnolia and Pine avenues, police said.

A SWAT team was activated and a negotiator established contact with the suspect, who threatened to blow up a federal building, police said.

Long Beach City Hall was placed on lockdown. Mayor Robert Garcia said via Twitter that everyone in the building was safe.

Police were escorting city employees out of the building shortly after 5 p.m., Garcia tweeted.

``We are on site, and again everyone is safe,'' Garcia wrote.

Aerial television pictures showed an armored truck straddling Ocean Boulevard, with a man sitting inside a nearby white vehicle. ABC 7 reported that a woman had warned that her husband was armed with guns in front of the Federal Building at 501 W. Ocean Blvd.

A few moments after 6 p.m., the man was shot by police. The man later died from his injuries at a hospital, authorities told reporters at the scene.

Sheriff's officials said that despite reports the man possibly had an explosive device, nothing of the kind turned up.

The man's name was not immediately released.


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