- Police were called to the Drury Plaza Hotel Wednesday morning
- Two children were released around 9:30 a.m., but a woman has been trapped in a second-floor room since 5:30 a.m.
- Police cruisers and SWAT vehicles gathered outside the hotel and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Nothing has been said yet about injuries
An armed man with PTSD holds a woman hostage in a downtown St. Louis hotel room hours after two children escaped.
Police were called to the Drury Plaza Hotel at 6:10 a.m. Wednesday after reports that a man had locked himself in a room with a woman and children.
Earlier, one of two children, ages 6 and 8, told dispatchers that they and their sibling hid in a hotel bathroom while a man argued with their mother.
The man called and indicated he had a gun, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police.
By 10 a.m., the children had been released from the second-floor room and other guests were evacuated from the building.
An armed man held a woman and two children hostage at a downtown St. Louis hotel Wednesday morning
The children were able to escape from the second-floor room of the Drury Plaza Hotel, where the woman had been held since 5:30 am.
EMS crews were seen at the scene alongside St. Louis police and SWAT teams. There is no word on injuries
Dozens of police cruisers and SWAT vehicles stood outside the hotel at North 4th and Market streets as officers in tactical gear weaved through parked cars.
Emergency services entered the building around 11:30 a.m., pushing a stretcher. Nothing has been said about injuries so far.
A block away, a row of cones were set up at the crosswalk at North Broadway and Market Street, blocking traffic from entering the area.
According to police, the man had been holding the woman since about 5:30 a.m. Negotiations for her release are ongoing.
Authorities have asked people to avoid the area if possible.
This is a development story.