A man fleeing police in northern California took two hostages at a public park, killing one of them and wounding the other and an officer before surrendering, authorities have said.
The events happened on Thursday in Roseville, a city of about 150,000, 20 miles north east of Sacramento, in the early afternoon as families played at nearby baseball fields and children attended camp.
The California Highway Patrol officer was in stable condition at a hospital. The names of the two adults taken hostage, including the one who died, were not immediately released.
The surviving hostage was taken to hospital with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries, according to a statement from the city of Roseville.
The suspect, who also was not immediately named, was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds but there was no immediate word on his condition, the city statement said.
It is unclear how he was wounded. Police did not immediately indicate whether officers had fired any shots.
The events unfolded when highway patrol officers attempted to serve the man a warrant, prompting him to shoot at and wound an officer.
Roseville Police Department received a radio call around 12.30pm alerting them an officer had been shot, Captain Kelby Newton said.
When Roseville police arrived, the suspect was seen carrying a gun and running. He then grabbed two civilians in the park and held them hostage, shooting both, Mr Newton said.
He added that he did not know what prompted the warrant.
Witness Victor Michael was at baseball practice with his child at Mahany Park when he saw what he thought was youngsters playing paintball, but then he heard police tell someone to stop and “get down”. Then gunfire followed.
“I can’t tell you who shot first, I just know that I saw a suspect look back and the volley of fire just went off. It was crazy,” Mr Michael said. “I just told my kid and everybody to get down.”
He said heard between 20 and 30 gunshots and took refuge with his child behind the tyres of his vehicle, he said.
The sprawling park in a quiet suburb of Sacramento includes a sports complex, public library, aquatics centre and nature trails.
The fitness centre and library were temporarily locked down, and students attending camps were taken to a nearby school to be reunited with their families.
