NEWS: Hostage Standoff at Mexican Consulate in L.A.

A stand off and hostage situation is underway at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angles. The incident started at 8:30 PST when a man entered the Consulate. Between seven and ten people are being held on the fourth floor of the building. No reports yet if or what the hostage takers are demanding.



This is a developing situation, and with no known demands at this point it is difficult to speculate why this has happened.

UPDATE
TV News cameras caught one man being shot as he held a women around the neck. This apparently occured outside of the consulate. The woman escaped unharmed. The man was taken to the hospital. Police have cordoned off several blocks.
www.abclocal.go.com

[edit on 11/9/2004 by phreak_of_nature]

Police shot a man in front of the consulate wearing a large hand made sign. The man was holding a woman. Unknown at this time what the sign says.

Police SWAT Teams were preparing to enter the building, and are maintaining the cordone around the building. Police do not know at this time if there are others in the building.

Previous links are being updated with the latest info.

I don't think this is terrorist related. The mexican embassy in LA is filled with bizarre behavior. It's right near Tijuana so no telling what was the reason of this. Someone probably just really drunk.

It appears as if there was only one hostage taker. His demands were to, "Call 911, I want the media here." It is unclear as to why he wanted the media to be there. It is also still unclear as to what the sign he was wearing said.

Police say the man is in the hospital and in critical condition.

SWAT team searches of the building are ongoing.

Originally posted by phreak_of_nature
His demands were to, "Call 911, I want the media here."

I guess he wanted to be tagged by SWAT on live television. What is wrong with people today. We have people commiting suicide at Ground Zero, people thinking the moon is a UFO, some guy holding up the Mexican embassy because wanted cameras.

Looks like it's time to get that flight to Iceland

Here is a link to my local news web site.They have a slide show of images showing the ordeal,but it is hard to tell what the sign says.
Story and images (15)

SWAT Team searches are complete. No other hostage takers have been found. The one man is still in critical condition in the hospital. No word as to why he wanted the media attention. Still no informaiton on what his sign said.

I can only assume the man meant to get his message out, whatever it was, then committ suicide by cop.

Here are images that show the sign,somewhat......

Los Angeles hostage-taker dies
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A man shot in the head by police as he held a Mexican consulate employee hostage has died, officials said Saturday.

Manuel Jubenal Ortiz-Gonzalez, 19, was pronounced dead at 2 p.m. Wednesday after his family decided to take him off life support, said Mario Sainz, an investigator with the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

His major organs were harvested after his death, Sainz said.

Ortiz-Gonzalez, originally of Jalisco, Mexico, entered the consulate Tuesday with what appeared to be a pistol and demanded attention from the news media.Read More...

Starter pistol used in L.A. consulate standoff
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:17 p.m. November 10, 2004

LOS ANGELES � A man shot by police after taking a hostage at the Mexican consulate was armed with a starter pistol, which is similar to a cap gun, police said Wednesday. Manuel Jubenal Ortiz, 19, remained on life support in critical condition at a Los Angeles hospital, police said.

Police responding to a report of a kidnapping Tuesday morning confronted Ortiz on a sidewalk outside the consulate. Read More...

INFO ON SIGN:
Ortiz wore a large sign that said in part, "I think, therefore I am."

edited for wrong coding

[edit on 13-11-2004 by SMR]

Originally posted by SMR
INFO ON SIGN:
Ortiz wore a large sign that said in part, "I think, therefore I am."

It seems this young man has set out to prove the converse of Descartes' famous dictum.

Originally posted by SMR
INFO ON SIGN:
Ortiz wore a large sign that said in part, "I think, therefore I am."

Look at the last picture. The second sign hes holding has a 'G' on it.

Yes it does. I read a link that said the bottom sign read .

G.W.B.
LIED
FOR OIL

I am now on a frantic search for the link. I will post it when found.

Seems also this sign holder that was wounded in the stand off is now dead.
www.cnn.com...

I can see why they would not show his anti Bush sign.

I posted that 5-6 posts up along with the fact that it was a starter pistol that was used.
I did not see the GW LIED FOR OIL part though.Good find

Kind of sorry that this guy had to take one in the head to state his point. But he should have used a super soaker rather than a dummy gun.