DELAWARE AVE — Santa Monica police are negotiating with a man who took his mother in-law and son hostage in an apparent family dispute late Tuesday afternoon.
The son and mother in-law were able to leave the home, but the man is still holding up in the residence on the 2900 block of Delaware Avenue as of 10:30 p.m.
Police have shut down streets in the area as they work to resolve the situation.
Santa Monica Police Department spokesman Sgt. Richard Lewis said that negotiators are in communication with the man as they try to resolve the situation.
Lewis said that police believe the incident stems from an ongoing dispute between the man and his estranged wife. The two currently live together at the residence.
Police responded to the home at approximately 5 p.m. after the 15-year-old boy called to report his experience. He told police that he and the elderly woman were tied up before he was able to break free.
Police immediately responded to the scene and currently there are two SWAT teams deployed — Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
Lewis added that the man is apparently armed with a handgun and other weapons are registered to the home.
(More to come.)
