West Hollywood barricade situation turns out to be an empty apartment, with pets

After a woman was shot Friday morning in a West Hollywood apartment, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials engaged in an hours-long standoff outside a nearby apartment before realizing that the noises coming from within were from pets — not an armed, barricaded suspect.

The standoff was sparked by an accidental shooting, officials said. One resident shot into another resident’s apartment around 8 a.m., wounding her — an act that sheriff’s officials said they believed was unintentional.

The woman, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital, where she was in stable condition and expected to survive.

Shortly after the shooting, the Sheriff’s Department landed a helicopter on La Brea Avenue, sending SWAT officers and crisis negotiators into the luxury apartment building and snarling traffic in the neighborhood.

For the next several hours, as SWAT officers stood by, crisis negotiators were
“actively attempting to make contact with the suspect to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement.

Then, around 5 p.m., after sending a drone into the apartment, officials entered it and determined the only occupants were pets. Authorities did not say where they thought the alleged shooter might have gone.

The public was warned at the outset of the incident to avoid the area; the advisory is no longer in effect.