LOS ANGELES, July 11 (UPI) -- Los Angeles' police chief says the death of a gunman and the 19-month-old daughter he had taken hostage is a tragedy the man brought on himself.
Jose Raul Pena fired more than 40 rounds at neighbors and police Sunday, using his toddler daughter as a shield, before he was killed in an incident that also left the child dead.
The toddler was only the second hostage to die during SWAT operations by the Los Angeles Police Department in 38 years, the Los Angeles Times said.
"We tried to do the best we could," said Police Chief William Bratton said. "This is only the second time in all those years when a hostage was killed."
Hostage negotiators tried for two hours to get Pena to surrender. Pena's family told authorities Pena was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, Bratton said.
