LOCAL : Lancaster Man Ends Standoff

A 55-year-old Lancaster man despondent because he is unemployed surrendered to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies this morning after an eight-hour standoff at his home that began when he fired a rifle and his family fled in fear, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was not released, was being held for psychiatric evaluation at Antelope Valley Medical Center following the incident that began about 5 p.m. Thursday, Deputy Ron Thomason said.

The man’s wife called deputies after she and a son and daughter fled the house near Jackman Street and Dave Avenue when the man fired a rifle into the ceiling, Thomason said. The woman reported that her husband had been drinking and was despondent because he had recently lost a job and had been unable to find another. There were no injuries.

Deputies surrounded the house, and a trained negotiator contacted the man by telephone. Deputies said the man eventually walked out the front door of the home at 1 a.m. today and surrendered.