Gunman Surrenders to Ontario Authorities

A standoff between a gunman who had fired into a home and Ontario police ended Thursday near two elementary schools when the man set a semiautomatic gun on his dashboard and surrendered, authorities said.

Hundreds of students at Berlyn and Edison elementary schools were escorted to safety by their teachers and administrators, according to Ontario Police Department Sgt. John Evans.

The trouble began a few miles from the schools at 11:45 a.m. when Adan Santana, 35, of Compton parked in the 900 block of East Orchard Lane and fired six rounds into a former relative’s home, Evans said.

About an hour later, police received reports of a suspicious car parked near the schools in the 1400 block of North Berlyn Avenue, he said.

An officer pulled up about 20 feet behind Santana and shouted for him to surrender.

Santana responded by firing a single round in the officer’s direction, Evans said. No shots were fired by police.

Backup officers arrived about 1:20 p.m. and closed off a five-block area.

Moments later, as SWAT teams moved in on the gunman, Berlyn and Edison schools locked students and teachers inside their classrooms, Evans said.

Once police officers had surrounded each of the schools, teachers and administrators escorted students off the campuses.

Officials at Berlyn, which was less than 50 yards from Santana’s car, led students to a field about two blocks away.

With half a dozen police and television helicopters hovering overhead, dozens of anxious parents lined a chain link fence separating them from their children.

After all the children were accounted for, school officials began to hand them over to their parents.

Among them was Greg Amendola, 35, who arrived to claim his 8-year-old daughter, Jessica.

“When I got here I was very scared, but then I was just glad to see my little girl ,” Amendola said.