Man holding children hostage surrenders in US city Oakland

SAN FRANCISCO - A man who fired gunshots at police officers and held children hostage from home surrendered on Wednesday after a 12-hour standoff in the US city of Oakland, Northern California.

"The incident ... was peacefully resolved. The subject was in communications with our Tactical Negotiators and agreed to let the children exit the home. Shortly after the subject exited the home and surrendered to police," the Oakland Police Department said in a tweet Wednesday evening.

Police officers saw the man shooting a rifle from inside a residence on the 5700 block of Harmon Avenue early Wednesday morning. No one was injured in the incident, according to the police.

The man was holding two children, aged 6 and 8, hostage inside the residence. A woman believed to be his wife then escaped from home, the reports said.

A SWAT team responded to the situation and police had been in contact with the man after the first shots were fired, the police said.

Oakland police spokeswoman Felicia Aisthorpe said in a Twitter video post earlier that a tactical negotiation team had been sent to deal with the situation.