Calif. hostage standoff ends with man shot dead

[June 12, 2010]  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- An armed man who held a 1-year-old boy hostage in a barricaded Sacramento apartment complex for several days was fatally shot by police Friday evening, authorities said.

Police used an explosive charge to make a hole and create a line of sight into the apartment where Anthony Alvarez had been barricaded since Wednesday, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tim Curran said.

After the device went off, Alvarez presented himself, engaged the officer and was shot multiple times, Curran said. At least two officers opened fire.

The 26-year-old Alvarez did not fire on police and was pronounced dead at the scene, Curran said. The 1-year-old suffered only an abrasion on his leg and was taken to a hospital as a precaution, Curran said.

The standoff began when authorities attempted to arrest Alvarez Wednesday.

Alvarez was wanted in the investigation of three armed robberies in the San Francisco Bay area and for allegedly firing at an officer in Concord on June 4. San Francisco police investigating a homicide also wanted to speak with him.

Alvarez has exchanged gunfire with authorities on several occasions. At one point Thursday, a SWAT officer shot at him when he appeared at a window.

Curran said authorities were able to communicate with Alvarez at about 3 a.m. Friday and had what he described as a productive conversation that lasted 15 minutes.

[Associated Press; By JOHN S. MARSHALL and ROBIN HINDERY]

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