Two taken hostage in hours-long standoff

An armed man took two women hostage inside their apartment building early Thursday, sparking a police standoff that dragged into the night.

Police do not know what precipitated the standoff, but said they have been negotiating by phone with the man, who they believe to be in his 20s or 30s, said police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Neighbors in the South Shore neighborhood and relatives of the hostages, who have not been identified, stood anxiously outside a police cordon of yellow tape. Some shouted at police, telling them they needed to do more to end the standoff, which began about 2:30 a.m. after a 911 call about gunshots in the building.

No injuries have been reported, Bond said. She described the female hostages as young adults, but did not know their ages or relationship to the gunman.