4 Kids, Mother Seized by Gunman in Ind.

ELKHART, Ind. – A gunman shot a man and held his ex-girlfriend and their four young children hostage for about nine hours Saturday before forcing them into a car and fleeing, police said.

Elkhart police issued an Amber Alert and said the children and their 31-year-old mother, Kimberly N. Walker, were in extreme danger. The children range in age from 16 months to 9 years old, authorities said.

Police were looking for Jerry D. White, 30, and believed he might be headed to Chicago after the shooting in the northern Indiana city. Detective Sgt. Bill Wargo of the Elkhart Police Department said an arrest warrant with charges of attempted murder and several counts of confinement had been issued for White.

Police said White had apparently been harassing Walker over the last few days, and her sister and her sister’s boyfriend had decided to stay with her and the children.

About 2 a.m., White broke into Walker’s house and shot her sister’s boyfriend, Wargo said. Police said he held everyone hostage until about 11:30 a.m., when he fled and Walker’s sister was able to call police.

The boyfriend was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said.