UPDATED: 6/27/19, 2:06 P.M.
An all-night hostage standoff with the Sheriff’s SWAT Team ended early this morning when the suspect was shot and killed. Sheriff’s deputies and a SWAT team responded to a hostage situation in the Yucca Mesa neighborhood of Yucca Valley Wednesday. About 12:40 p.m., deputies were called to a home in the area of Warren Vista Avenue after the victim, an unidentified woman, notified her family that Eric Sandoval, 41, was holding her hostage inside his home with a handgun and threatening violence.
Deputies called in trained negotiators and the Special Weapons and Tactics Team to help mediate with Sandoval. The standoff and negotiations went on through the night. Shortly after 3 am, SWAT officers at the scene heard gunshots coming from the residence. They then entered the home and discovered the victim with a gunshot wound. An officer-involved-shooting ensued between a SWAT officer and Sandoval. The woman was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition. Eric Sandoval was pronounced deceased at the scene. No officers were injured. Sheriff’s homicide has assumed the investigation. The scene remains blocked off for investigation. The name of the victim is being withheld pending positive identification.
