A man who abducted his estranged wife and then held their 4-year-old daughter at knifepoint was fatally shot by police in a Los Angeles suburb, authorities said Tuesday.
The man died at a hospital after the shooting around 6:30 p.m. Monday in a residential area of Whittier but no one else was injured, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which is assisting local police with the investigation.
The man's name was not immediately released.
The incident began a half-hour earlier in the lobby of the Whittier Police Department, where the estranged parents of the little girl and a 7-year-old boy were to conduct a child custody exchange.
During the exchange, the husband abducted his wife at knifepoint and forced her into a vehicle with the two children, the department said in a statement.
They drove to a neighborhood about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away where the mother got out. Her husband drove off with the children, then returned and took the 4-year-old out of the vehicle and held her at knifepoint.
"During this hostage situation, officers from Whittier PD arrived, and attempted to detain the suspect, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred," the department said.
The man was struck at least once in the upper torso.
Associated Press