Armed woman in Topanga mobile home refuses to surrender

TOPANGA, Calif. (KABC) -- A standoff that started early Thursday morning at a mobile home in Topanga continued into the night, as an armed woman refused to surrender to authorities.

According to investigators, the situation started with a medical call around 5:45 a.m. at the Woodland Park Mobile Estates in the 4200 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

At some point when the woman was being attended to by paramedics, sheriff's officials said she brandished a firearm and pointed it in the general direction of deputies who had arrived on scene.

She then went running through the trailer park, yelling threats to anyone who came near her. Shortly before 6 a.m. the woman entered the backyard of a home and remained holed up for hours in a patio area.

When deputies sent in a crisis negotiation robot, she fired shots at it, hit the robot with a broom, threw a cover over it and pointed an object that appeared to be a drill at it.

Authorities fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas into the mobile home. Through it all, she refused to give up.

The woman could be seen sitting in the patio holding a gun.

Gabriel Vahba told Eyewitness News that he lives in the home where the suspect was holed up. He said he saw her earlier in the day, and she said something about having trouble walking.

"I told her to get out, and she pointed the gun on me," he said.

Nearby units have been evacuated.

Resident Karen McCauley said she heard the woman yelling and making threats.

"I was able to open up my kitchen door and hear her, and the things she was saying, you know you knew, she wasn't well," McCauley said. "She wanted to kill the police department."

Family members have been called to the scene. Sheriff's officials said they are taking their time and trying their best to bring the situation to an end without any violence.