Riverside officers responded to a report of a man who had fired a weapon through the floor of an upstairs apartment near Loma Vista Street and Ottawa Avenue around 8:35 p.m. Friday. Officers arrived after the neighbors confronted the man.
The 30-year-old suspect then barricaded himself inside his downstairs apartment and told officers he was armed, had his children as hostages and threatened to start a fire and kill them.
Crisis negotiators established contact with the suspect and shortly determined his children were not with him.
After a 7- to 8-hour standoff, tear gas was introduced into the apartment. A SWAT team then entered the apartment, heard a gunshot and found the man dead. A weapon was recovered next to his body.
Residents from the building were temporarily evacuated. No one else was injured.
The suspect's identity has not been released pending notification of kin.
The Riverside Police Department is leading the investigation. Anyone with further information was urged to contact Detective Mike Medici at (951) 353-7104 or Detective Jim Simons at (951) 353-7138.