Sacamuelas
11-09-2004, 14:09
Hostage-Taker Wounded at Los Angeles Consulate
Tape Shows Gunman Collapsing
By LAURA WIDES, AP
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 9) - A man took a woman hostage at the Mexican consulate Tuesday before he was wounded by police outside the building. The hostage escaped unharmed.
A television videotape showed the hostage-taker, his arm around the woman's neck, leave a consulate building and down a sidewalk as police closed in. The man suddenly collapsed backward to the ground and officers pulled the woman away.
Officers picked up the man and rushed him away; his condition was not immediately known.
The man was dressed in black and had a large homemade sign attached to his body. It was not clear what the sign said.
Police cordoned off several blocks around the building near downtown Los Angeles and ambulances and fire trucks gathered nearby.
Sgt. Catherine Plows did not know if any other hostage-takers remained in the building. After the shooting, a SWAT team was preparing to enter the building.
Alan Nahum, spokesman for the Foreign Relations Department in Mexico, told CNN said the gunman was not an employee of the consulate, but he couldn't give any more details. He also added that the gunman entered the embassy saying he wanted to talk to the media.
A telephone call to the consulate's press office went unanswered and the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C., had no immediate comment or details.
11/09/04 12:58 EST
Tape Shows Gunman Collapsing
By LAURA WIDES, AP
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 9) - A man took a woman hostage at the Mexican consulate Tuesday before he was wounded by police outside the building. The hostage escaped unharmed.
A television videotape showed the hostage-taker, his arm around the woman's neck, leave a consulate building and down a sidewalk as police closed in. The man suddenly collapsed backward to the ground and officers pulled the woman away.
Officers picked up the man and rushed him away; his condition was not immediately known.
The man was dressed in black and had a large homemade sign attached to his body. It was not clear what the sign said.
Police cordoned off several blocks around the building near downtown Los Angeles and ambulances and fire trucks gathered nearby.
Sgt. Catherine Plows did not know if any other hostage-takers remained in the building. After the shooting, a SWAT team was preparing to enter the building.
Alan Nahum, spokesman for the Foreign Relations Department in Mexico, told CNN said the gunman was not an employee of the consulate, but he couldn't give any more details. He also added that the gunman entered the embassy saying he wanted to talk to the media.
A telephone call to the consulate's press office went unanswered and the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C., had no immediate comment or details.
11/09/04 12:58 EST