A terrifying six-hour standoff with a possibly armed man aboard an Amtrak train ended Saturday in Chatsworth after all the passengers were evacuated and other trains were canceled or delayed.
The standoff ended at about 2:20 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Sheriff‘s Information Bureau, when the suspect was taken into custody without incident.
The nearly 200 people who were on board that train were safe and accounted for Saturday as Amtrak employees worked to get them to their destinations while the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department assisted to secure the scene.
The potential gunman was initially spotted at 6:19 p.m. Friday by a passenger on the Pacific Surfliner who reported seeing the man and his weapon to the Metrolink Operations Traffic Center, which controls rail traffic through Chatsworth, according to Ramon Montenegro of the sheriff’s Transit Policing Division.
As a result, the train was evacuated and all Metrolink service through the Chatsworth station was halted
Craig Schulz of Amtrak told City News Service all 187 passengers and five crew members aboard San Diego-bound Amtrak Train 790 “safely left the train…” with the exception of one man.
The suspect barricaded himself on the train right before 8 p.m. Friday.
Schulz said two trains were canceled Saturdary – the 564 San Diego-bound Pacific Surfliner and the 573, which was scheduled to go to Los Angeles from San Diego.
“Everyone else has been accounted for and has been transported to their destinations at this point,” Schulz said.
There was no word yet of the suspect’s identity, nor of a motive for his actions. It wasn’t clear what kind of weapon he was carrying, if any.
— City News Service