US police in Los Angeles, California, shot and critically wounded a man Tuesday who took a woman hostage inside the Mexican consulate west of downtown.

Authorities said the man appeared to have acted alone, but officers were evacuating remaining employees and visitors and conducting a thorough search of the building.

The woman, a clerk in the notary department, was shaken, but unharmed. The hostage was confronted by the suspect in her fourth floor office.

Authorities said the two apparently did not know each other. Police and fire officials were called to the consulate, in the 2400 block of West Sixth Street, about 8:30 a.m. local time (16:30GMT).

A number of surrounding blocks were cordoned off, and police went on a citywide tactical alert in response to the situation. The action allows commanders to deploy a maximum number of officers and hold them over at the end of their shifts.

"We have no indication, information, that this has any relationship at all to a terrorist act," Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton told reporters at the scene. "But preliminarily, we don't know the motive of the suspect who is in custody, who is in critical condition at one of our local hospitals."

A motive had not been established, Bratton said. The man demanded the hostage call the 911 emergency call and wanted media attention.

"The security officers do have metal-detecting wands," he said."We will attempt to ascertain as the investigation goes forward how he got into the building. Was he armed, we're not sure even atthis time as to whether he was armed or not."

He said the suspect, whose identity was not immediately released, apparently lives in the San Fernando Valley.

Source: Xinhua