Police help escort students to a nearby restroom as they wait to be released to parents after a man barricaded himself in a classroom at Castle View Elementary School in Riverside on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. The school was placed on lockdown, all students were evacuated and are reported to be safe. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Press-Enterprise via AP)
Republished October 31, 2017 - 10:46 PM
Original Publication Date October 31, 2017 - 1:41 PM
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Latest on a hostage situation at a California elementary school (all times local):
10:30 p.m.
A father shot by police after holding a 70-year-old teacher hostage for hours at his daughter's Southern California school has died.
Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback said late Tuesday that the man had been declared dead at a hospital. He did not release his name or say exactly when the man had died.
A SWAT team entered a classroom at Castle View Elementary School shortly before 6 p.m. and shot him.
Railsback says negotiators had been talking to the man but hadn't heard from the teacher and feared for her life.
It's still not clear what prompted the man to enter the school and barricade himself with the teacher, and it's not known whether he had a weapon.
The teacher was not injured.
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6:50 p.m.
Police have shot a parent who held a 70-year-old teacher hostage for hours at his daughter's Southern California elementary school.
Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback says a SWAT team entered a classroom at Castle View Elementary School shortly before 6 p.m. The suspect's condition was not immediately known.
Railsback says negotiators had been talking to the man but hadn't heard from the teacher and feared for her life.
Family members identified her as 70-year-old Linda Montgomery. Police say the teacher was taken to a hospital but didn't appear to have any serious injuries.
It's still not clear what prompted the man to enter the school and barricade himself with the teacher Tuesday morning and it's not known whether he had a weapon.
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6:20 p.m.
Police have rescued a 70-year-old teacher who was held hostage by a parent at a Southern California school for nearly seven hours.
A short time later, a man believed to be the parent was brought outside and taken away in an ambulance.
Police and family members say the father of a first-grade student punched someone in the face when he was asked to sign in at Castle View Elementary School in Riverside Tuesday morning.
The man then barricaded himself in a classroom with teacher Linda Montgomery. No students were in the classroom. The campus was evacuated and a SWAT team called.
KABC-TV reports that shortly before 6 p.m., flash-bang grenades were fired and police entered the classroom. A short time later, a man believed to be the parent was brought outside on a gurney and taken away in an ambulance. Family members say he had some kind of emotional breakdown.
Police tell the station that the teacher doesn't have any life-threatening injuries.
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4:50 p.m.
Family members have identified a teacher being held hostage in a classroom at a Southern California school.
Her daughter says she's 70-year-old Linda Montgomery. Her granddaughter tells the Riverside Press-Enterprise that the woman has taught at Castle View Elementary School in Riverside for 20 years.
Authorities say the parent of a student scuffled with a school employee and then barricaded himself in a classroom with the teacher Tuesday. It was around lunchtime and no students were in the classroom.
Police say it's unclear whether the parent has a weapon but students have been evacuated and police and federal agents are at the scene.
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3:45 p.m.
Police say a man who is holding a teacher hostage inside a Southern California elementary school assaulted another staff member who tried to make him sign in at the school office.
Riverside Police officer Ryan Railsback says the man was still holding the teacher hostage inside the Castle View Elementary School more than four hours after he first entered the school.
He says the attempt to stop the man came at the school's front office.
Railsback says the man was a parent of a child at the school and was holding a female teacher hostage inside a classroom. It isn't known if he has a weapon.
He says it wasn't clear if the main entered a classroom where the teacher was or if he forced her into the classroom.
School spokeswoman Justin Grayson says there were no students in the classroom at the time.
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1:30 p.m.
School officials say all students are accounted for as a man continues to hold someone hostage inside a Southern California elementary school.
The Riverside Unified School District says on Facebook Tuesday afternoon that all students at Castle View Elementary have been evacuated and are being reunited with their parents.
Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback says police believe a male parent is holding a teacher or other school staffer hostage. He says it's not known if the parent has a weapon
Railsback says the parent "was upset" but police don't know why. He says police want to resolve the situation as safely as possible.
Railsback says officers had been first called to the school for a disturbance and when they arrived, they found the parent barricaded inside a classroom.
School officials say police are "actively working to resolve the situation."
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1 p.m.
Authorities say a parent has barricaded himself in a Southern California elementary school classroom with at least one other person.
Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback says the incident at Castle View Elementary School was reported shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Railsback says he believes a male parent was holding a teacher or other school staffer hostage. He says it's not known if the parent has a weapon.
Railsback says officers had been first called to the school for a disturbance and when they arrived, they found the parent barricaded inside a classroom.
The police spokesman says most of the school has been evacuated and the area where the barricade is occurring has been isolated.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017