News that the suspect is in custody has brought welcome relief for residents at the La Valencia at Starwood apartment complex where a 15-hour standoff took place Friday afternoon into Saturday morning. Many spent the day recounting the tense moments they went through during incident as gunfire erupted outside their windows.
"I heard the cop follow him into the complex, and then the first couple of gunshots went off and that's when his car started driving away -- and that's when the heavy gunfire started." resident Hayden Hamilton said.
Hamilton watched it all unfold from inside of his apartment, where he was stuck -- for more than 15 hours -- with his three dogs. He said he heard gunfire all night while police negotiated with the suspect.
"Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Just hearing it was surreal, it was crazy," he said.
Scott Bowers was just feet away from where the gunman was shooting and had to be removed from his apartment by law enforcement in the middle of the standoff.
"There were eight or nine fully suited guys with ballistic shields who just came and banged on my door and told me to grab my phone and run," Bowers said.
Since the suspect was taken into custody, residents have been allowed to come and go from their homes while the complex remained an active crime scene. Several of them are being reunited with their families and pets for the first time.
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They are all now breathing a sigh of relief that the suspect is behind bars.
"We're very thankful and we're glad that the officer is in stable and in good condition," resident Cheryle Embrey said.
"I'm glad everybody including the officer's OK and I'm glad the police were all there to help," Hamilton said.
