No suspect found after 5-hour standoff

MONROVIA -- A sheriff's SWAT team used flash bang and tear gas grenades to force their way into a home where an armed was was believed to be barricaded for five hours Sunday, but found the home empty, authorities said.
The incident began about 11:30 a.m. at a house in the 2000 block of Goodall Avenue in an unincorporated county area near Monrovia when someone reported a son and mother were involved in an argument, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Lynette O'Brien said.
When deputies arrived, the son's mother and step-father told deputies that the son was armed and they last saw him inside the home, Cmdr. James Lopez said.
"They saw the son with a handgun," he said. "He actually pointed the gun at his step-dad."
The mother and step-father were not injured, officials said.
Deputies also learned that the son, who was initially described only as a 20-year-old Latino man pending further investigation, had outstanding felony warrants related to burglary and narcotics charges, Lopez said. He did not appear to have a history of violence.
Authorities were also looking into the possibility the suspects has gang ties.
Three-dozen people were evacuated from nine homes near the incident, Sgt. Jeff Walker said. The Red Cross set up a place for them to wait at nearby Pamela Park if they wished.
For about five hours, crisis negotiators tried to contact the house by telephone and orders to surrender were broadcasted through loudspeakers as deputies worked to get a search warrant for the home signed by a judge.
At about 4:30 p.m., sheriff's SWAT deputies through a flash bank grenade and several tear gas grenades into the home before forcing their way in, Sgt. Jim Dexter said.
"(Deputies) went in with gas," he said. "They searched the location and the suspect is gone."
Authorities believe he slipped away before deputies were able to fully surround the home, Dexter added.
Lopez said officials will continue to seek the son on suspicion of brandishing a gun at his step-father, as well as the outstanding warrants, authorities said.
Deputies recovered a weapon from the home, Walker said, though declined to say what type..
Officials said the mother and step-father were being housed by the Red Cross temporarily due to the tear gas inside the home. Firefighters were summoned to ventilate the house.