Gunman Wounded in Standoff
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LANCASTER — An armed man who kept authorities at bay for nearly six hours while holed up in his home was critically wounded Wednesday after exchanging gunfire with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies.
Charles A. Friddle, 42, was shot “several times in the upper body,” according to Deputy Debra Glafkides. He was in critical condition Thursday at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, she said.
A sheriff’s deputy suffered a minor wound in the left hand from a shotgun pellet, she said. He was treated at a local hospital and released.
Glafkides said deputies were sent to the home in the 44500 block of Benald Street about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a report of a suicidal man. When they arrived, “the suspect was inside the home and fired at them with a shotgun from an upstairs room,” she said.
After returning fire, deputies called in officers from the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit. Six hours later, the SWAT team entered the home using a flash bang grenade as a diversion.
Friddle was found in an upstairs bedroom with a wound he had received in the earlier gunfight.
Deputies recovered a loaded 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun and a .357-magnum handgun from the home, Glafkides said.
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