LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Police ended a tense hostage drama at Mexico's consulate in Los Angeles by shooting and critically wounding a masked assailant who tried to kidnap a consular employee, police said.
Heavily armed police SWAT teams had surrounded the Mexican consulate general in the second-largest US city as the hostage crisis unfolded in the diplomatic mission.
The hostage-taker was thought to have acted alone, but it was unclear whether he was armed or how he slipped through consular security, police said.
He grabbed a female clerical employee and tried to force her out of the consular building near the city's downtown when colleagues called police, Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn said.
As the suspected kidnapper, dressed in black and wearing a ski mask, backed out of the building holding his hostage by the throat, a police marksman opened fire, felling the suspect and allowing the woman to escape.
"The hostage was rescued safely and is unharmed," Hahn told reporters, adding that the young woman, who did not know her assailant, was in deep shock.
The masked man, who officials said had demanded that police and media be called to the scene, had several handwritten placards hanging around his neck, dramatic television pictures showed.
The suspect was in critical condition in hospital as police SWAT teams scoured the consulate building floor by floor for possible accomplices. Officers said however that the building was safe.
The suspect, who police said was around 21 years of age and was not apparently linked in any way to his hostage, was under police guard in hospital.
Hahn and Police Chief William Bratton said the reason for the daring attack remained unknown, but said it was not thought to be a terrorist act.
"We have no information that this has any link at all to a suspected terrorist attack," Bratton said. The assailant's motives however remained a mystery, the chief said.
"We have not been able to converse with the suspect," Bratton added.
The crisis began at around 8:30 am (1630 GMT), when police received a report of a kidnapping in progress at the consulate, Police Officer Kristi Sandoval said.
Most of the mission's 70 employees fled the building. Roads around the consulate were sealed off and nearby buildings evacuated as armed officers took up positions.
Mexico's consulate in Los Angeles is one of the country's busiest, serving millions of Mexicans in the southwestern US states, including a huge community in Los Angeles.
11/09/2004 - 22:37 GMT - AFP