Police Apprehend Armed Man Who Barricaded Himself in Amtrak Train Near LA For 8 Hours

The passenger barricaded himself in a train car.

ByABC News
September 17, 2016, 6:00 AM
This Amtrak train in Chatsworth, California, was evacuated after an armed man barricaded himself in a rail car on September 16, 2016.
This Amtrak train in Chatsworth, California, was evacuated after an armed man barricaded himself in a rail car on September 16, 2016.
Twitter/@SEBLASD

— -- An armed passenger who barricaded himself in an Amtrak rail car outside Los Angeles Friday night -- forcing the evacuation of 187 passengers -- was finally apprehended after about eight hours after tear gas was released, police said early Saturday morning.

"Barricaded armed suspect on #AMTRAK train in custody after tear gas deployed. Area safe," tweeted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Bureau at 2:19 a.m. local time.

Police were notified by Amtrak at 6:19 p.m. that passengers on board Amtrak # 790 -- traveling along the popular Pacific Surfliner route -- witnessed a passenger with a weapon, said Ramon Montenegro, a public information officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office Transit Bureau.

ABC-owned KABC in Los Angeles reported that the weapon was a gun, although police had not yet specified what the weapon was.

According to KABC, witnesses said the suspect appeared to be under the influence, or possibly had a mental health issue.

Train operators were instructed to pull the train into the station in Chatsworth -- located in northwestern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County -- and evacuate the train, Montenegro told ABC News.

When deputies arrived, the train was evacuated, with the exception of the car carrying the suspected armed passenger, who locked himself in. KABC reported that the train has also been isolated.

An Amtrak spokesman told ABC News, "Amtrak Train 790 -– the Pacific Surfliner service, operating from San Luis Obispo to San Diego –- is being delayed at the Chatsworth station for police activity. All 187 passengers and 5 crew have safely left the train and remain inside the Chatsworth station."

Amtrak provided buses to take the passengers to a new train elsewhere, but those who went were unable to take their luggage since it remained on the original train

PHOTO: In this undated photo provided by Amtrak, the Pacific Surfliner travels along the coastline in Del Mar, California.
In this undated photo provided by Amtrak, the Pacific Surfliner travels along the coastline in Del Mar, California.

There were no reports of shots fired.

Crisis negotiators and SWAT Team officers were dispatched to the station, Montenegro said.

Train traffic -- including both Amtrak and the regional Metrolink -- was temporarily stopped.

ABC News' Lucien Bruggerman, Anthony McMahon and Shelby Kimball contributed to this report.