Police kill man who took daughters hostage

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- A SWAT sharpshooter killed an armed man who was holding his infant daughter hostage in a sport utility vehicle Saturday, ending a five-hour standoff on a highway, authorities said.

Richard Klockenga, 31, had been holding his 6-month-old and 3-year-old daughters hostage, but sheriff's negotiators managed to talk him into releasing the older child. Neither girl was harmed.

Klockenga and his estranged wife had been arguing in Orange County near Walt Disney World shortly before midnight Friday. He bit her, refused to let her out of their SUV and pulled a gun on her, said Chief Jerry Geier of the sheriff's office.

She managed to escape and phoned authorities. Deputies spotted the SUV on Interstate 4.

Deputies threw down sticks to flatten two tires, leaving the vehicle disabled on the shoulder of the interstate.

Hours later, Klockenga rolled down the window, pointed the handgun at the SWAT team and fired a round, Geier said.

A sniper fired a single shot that hit Klockenga in the head, Geier said. Authorities would not identify the sniper, a deputy who was placed on administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting.

Klockenga was arrested twice for domestic battery in Osceola County in 1998, records show.