Los Angeles Police Department detained a "person of interest'' early Monday morning in connection with a string of fatal shootings that took three people's lives and left four others severely injured. The shootings occurred in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles early Sunday morning.

According to LAPD spokesman Capt. William Hayes, the possible suspect was taken into custody by SWAT Team forces following a standoff when the suspect barricaded himself inside a house in Sylmar. Capt. Hayes declined to release information on what led officers to the house or whether any evidence was found upon apprehending the possible suspect.

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LAPD spokesman Hayes states in a report to the press that he cannot give information on whether there was "a second individual." He also states that the LAPD is "following all clues and leads," and will release more information as soon as possible.

At this point in time, police say that the victims appear to have been randomly targeted by the same gunmen. The same type of weapon was used in the Sunday morning attacks, and  the suspect's 'modus operandi' or M.O. was to shoot at his victims from the inside of a vehicle.

The first attack was on a family of five, where a mid-20's woman was killed. Her mother and father were critically wounded and two young children sustained minor injuries. Less than an hour later, a man was fatally wounded while scrounging for recyclables. The elderly man was shot as he unknowingly approached the suspect's vehicle in the parking lot.

Less than 15 minutes later, a woman in her late 50's was shot in the head while waiting in her car in front of her church. LAPD speculates that she was waiting for church service to begin when she was shot.

The brutal shootings have triggered an intense investigation and impelled the LA County Sheriff's Department and LAPD to pace up their street and foot patrol. Investigators are looking into whether these attacks are related to at least two similar shootings from earlier in the week. 

TagsCalifornia Shooting, Los Angeles Police Department, SWAT