California father killed in school standoff

A SWAT team shot and killed a Southern California father who held a first-grade teacher hostage for nearly seven hours Tuesday. Luvelle Kennon, 27, entered Castle View Elementary in Riverside, Calif., around lunchtime Tuesday, barricading himself and the teacher, Linda Montgomery, 70, in an empty classroom. All the school’s students, including Kennon’s daughter, were safely evacuated. During the standoff, Kennon’s family members told authorities he recently suffered an emotional breakdown and urged them to try and talk to him. But after hours of negotiations without hearing from Montgomery, police stormed the classroom around 6 p.m. and shot Kennon. He was declared dead at a hospital hours later. Montgomery sustained minor injuries. It is not clear what motivated Kennon to take the teacher hostage or if he had a weapon in the classroom.