A gunman has reportedly fired 15 to 20 shots and taken three hostages at the biggest veterans home in the United States on Friday. The Yountville Veterans Home is located in Napa County, California.
Local news station KTVU is reporting live:
Police told KTVU the shots were fired near the Yountville Veterans Home dining hall, which lead to a swarm of officers arriving at the scene.
KTVU reports, “FBI sent a SWAT team to negotiate with the shooter. As KTVU’s Mark Ibanez arrived at the scene he was told by SWAT to stay behind something, ‘because this guy has an automatic weapon.’”
Employees at the veterans home have been posting updates on Facebook about this situation. Linda La Rue Koch, one employee who lives on site, reported that she is on lockdown in a safe location. Another employee took to her Facebook page to ask for prayers: “Please pray we have about 30 police here at the Vets Home there is a shooter here. We’re in lockdown in the MSC Building.”
The home currently houses about 1,100 veterans from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This is a developing story…