Residents fearful as armed man hides in North Hollywood home

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LAPD officers take a suspect into custody after a four-hour standoff in North Hollywood. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A man hugs his daughter after she was evacuated from Oakwood School in North Hollywood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Parents hug as they wait to be reunited with their children who are being evacuated from Oakwood School in North Hollywood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Students from Oakwood School in North Hollywood are evacuated from their campus after a man, who led police on a high-speed chase, was roaming the neighborhood with an assault rifle before barricading himself inside a home. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Students from Oakwood School in North Hollywood are evacuated from their campus. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Officers search a North Hollywood neighborhood for a man with a rifle who was hiding in the area. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officers with guns drawn close off Hartsook Street as police search for a gunman in the North Hollywood neighborhood. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A man who led police on a high speed chase across L.A. freeways fled on foot into a North Hollywood neighborhood with a rifle. Police have locked down the area off Magnolia Boulevard near the 170 freeway. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Armed LAPD officers take up position on Hartsook Street in North Hollywood after a man who led police on a high-speed chase on several freeways Monday was roaming around a neighborhood armed with an assault rifle Monday. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A suspect who led police on a high-speed chase across Los Angeles freeways fled on foot into a North Hollywood neighborhood with a rifle. Police have locked down the area off Magnolia Boulevard near the 170 Freeway. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Police turned out in numbers in North Hollywood where a gunman is hiding in the neighborhood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By Alicia Banks, Veronica Rocha

June 9, 2014 1:45 PM PT

Residents of a North Hollywood neighborhood where a man armed with an assault weapon was holed up in a house expressed fear and concern for their safety.

Franklin Hanock, 80, has lived on Hartsook Street for 53 years and said it is normally very quiet, except for a few incidents. He said by phone that he was aware of the police activity in his neighborhood.

“We are prepared for things that are going on and we are armed if necessary,” he said.

His neighbors, he said, should be safe if they remain inside their homes and keep their doors locked. Every street in his neighborhood is blocked with police activity.

A woman who lives on Hartsook and would not give her name said she fears for her safety. She said the suspect was barricaded inside a home across the street from her house.

“It’s really scary,” she said.

Helicopters were buzzing overhead and police swarmed the suburban neighborhood.

Police said they were evacuating area homes.

UPDATE: Pursuit suspect surrenders; 4-hour standoff over

The man had earlier led police on a high-speed chase on several freeways Monday before roaming around the North Hollywood neighborhood.

SWAT officers were surrounding the home but it was unclear whether they were communicating with him. Police believe no one else is inside the home on Hartsook.

The suspect jumped out of his car around 11:30 a.m. and started running through the neighborhood off Magnolia Boulevard. He was seen walking through backyards in North Hollywood, then standing on the roof of a home.

Tamrah Land, 22, lives a flew blocks from the standoff. She was peddling her scooter to North Hollywood Park when she asked someone what was going on, looking up at the hovering helicopters at the 101 Freeway near Magnolia Boulevard.

“I’m not surprised by how the world is going. It’s funny I don’t feel scared. That says something about our society,” she said.

April Gutierrez, 47, lives about a half mile from where police have blocked traffic at Magnolia Boulevard. She was at the North Hollywood Park with her dog moments before she heard sirens and someone on a bullhorn yell,” He’s got a gun!”

She said this is the first time she’s seen a standoff in North Hollywood.

“There are worse parts of L.A.,” she said. “Here it’s quiet, you know neighbors’ names and even some of the police officers.”

She moved to North Hollywood to get away from the crime in the Inland Empire where she used to live, she said.