LA neighborhood shuts down after suspect allegedly beats woman to death with bat in drug-fueled rampage

Los Angeles police arrested a 35-year-old man Wednesday following an hours-long standoff after the suspect allegedly beat a woman to death with a metal baseball bat and barricaded himself inside his home.

The about five-hour ordeal began around 8:15 a.m. when officers first responded to the 2300 block of Venice Boulevard in Harvard Heights to a report about an assault with a deadly weapon. A woman was found suffering from "very significant blunt force trauma to the head," and officers also recovered an aluminum bat from the scene, police said.  Los Angeles police displayed the mugshot of Joshua Ramos, a suspect in a reported assault with a deadly weapon. (Photo: FOX 11 KTTV) (FOX 11 KTTV) Los Angeles police respond to a suspect barricaded inside a home. (Photo: FOX 11 KTTV) (FOX 11 KTTV) The woman was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, Patch reported. Her identity was not immediately released, though police officials who provided updates to reporters staged nearby after the standoff said she might have been homeless, KTLA reported.