CrimeWatch

SAN MATEO (CBS 5/KCBS/BCN) ― A mother was killed Tuesday when a San Mateo home invasion turned into a shootout, and forced SWAT members to make a daring rescue of the woman's two small children.

The woman who was fatally shot while lowering her children out of a bedroom window has been identified by police as 24-year-old Loan Kim Nguyen.

Police said Nguyen was at home Tuesday morning with her 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter when she sent a text message to her husband that she was being robbed and held at gunpoint.

The husband called police shortly after 9:30 a.m. prompting a police response to the 29 Hobart Avenue home that eventually included a SWAT team.

The chain of events that followed left Nguyen fatally injured and the intruder dead, police said. Police Chief Susan Manheimer said that as officers arrived at the home in response to the husband's 911 call, they saw the armed suspect beating Nguyen through a front window.

They attempted to enter but the suspect fired a shot from a handgun prompting police to retreat. A SWAT team was called in and hostage negotiators attempted to contact the suspect. He refused to negotiate, Manheimer said.

At that time, the woman had barricaded herself and her two children in a back bedroom. She was in contact with officers and told them she wanted to lower the children out the window.

The bedroom is on the main floor of the house but is higher up than a typical first-floor window, so police pulled the SWAT van up alongside the house. Officers atop the van reached out and were able to take hold of the children.

At some point, the suspect began shooting through a wall toward the woman and the officers. SWAT team members returned fire as the children were rushed to safety, police said.

While Nguyen was still in the window she was hit by gunfire and "crumpled down," Manheim said. Officers entered the home and removed Nguyen, who was taken to Stanford Hospital where she later died.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld pending notification of family members, was found dead inside a back bedroom.

Police say it in unclear whether Nguyen was killed by gunfire from police or from the suspect.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said investigators will perform a ballistics comparison to try to answer that question. It is also unclear how the suspect died. Manheimer said suicide has not been ruled out.

The children were uninjured in the incident and Manheimer commended the officers "who at great risk to their own safety and also under fire" saved them.

She said one officer jumped off the top of the van holding one of the children after the suspect began shooting. She said some officers may have suffered minor injuries but nothing serious.

Police are still investigating whether the suspect knew the victim or her family. A car was towed from across the street that Manheimer say may be related.

In addition to the criminal investigation by the San Mateo Police Department, the department will conduct an internal investigation into the officers' actions on Tuesday. The District Attorney's Office will also investigate that aspect.

Manheimer said there were several points at which gunfire was exchanged but that the details are still unclear. Officers from eight agencies responded.

Authorities used the parking lot outside the nearby Patelco Credit Union on El Camino Real as a staging area during the incident.

Larry Schieser, a real estate agent who works at the nearby Prudential California Realty, said he was having a normal morning at work around 9 a.m. when he saw a couple of police cars.

A steady stream of patrol cars then followed, and a SWAT team arrived. He said he then heard numerous gunshots.

"Once the shots were fired it became very quiet in our office, surreal almost," he said. "We realized something serious was taking place."

He said he and his coworkers were told to stay inside the office while police investigated.

The home where the shooting happened is across the street from a Montessori preschool called Bright Beginnings Toddler.

Jerry Adan, who answered the phone at the school, said staff members Tuesday afternoon were focused on making sure their preschoolers were okay.

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