Man takes 4 people hostage at gunpoint in Issaquah; children released after 5-and-a-half hours inside

UPDATE:  The King County Sheriff's Office and the Washington State Patrol are now leading the investigation into the armed hostage-barricade incident. 

Authorities believe the suspect is in the ruins of the burned out home that appears to be a total loss.   The search for him has been suspended for the night and will resume in the morning. 

The final hostage escaped safely about 10:45 a.m. Sunday.  Law enforcement sources say the suspect briefly fell asleep allowing her to leave the house.

At about 1 p.m. Sunday, police reported that the home was on fire and that Puget Sound Energy will have to shut off power to the entire neighborhood to extinguish it.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. -- An armed man who took four people, including two small children, hostage at gunpoint in Issaquah Saturday evening is still holding one of his relatives hostage Sunday morning, according to Issaquah Police.

Police said officers responded just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday to a suspicious circumstance call in the 5200 block of Isola Place NW in the Montreux area.

Investigators said a 28-year-old man with a felony warrant, later learned to be a relative of the resident, went into the home armed with a handgun. He took the resident, her fiancé and her two small children  - an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old - hostage.

Negotiators were called to the scene, and after five-and-a-half hours of negotiations, the man released the children and the woman's fiancé.

The resident is still inside with the armed suspect.

Several other law enforcement agencies have responded to assist Issaquah Police.

Lakemont Park is closed for the day, and both entrances into the neighborhood are blocked by police.  Police are using the park as a staging area.

Police are urging people to stay away from the area.