Seems that better information on things is out this morning. Apparently, the guy behind this is an escaped prisoner - more properly, he was on some kind of leave, and went AWOL. He's holding two women in a bar - his wife (possibly ex-wife) and some woman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (apparently, a bar, not an apartment). There were two children let go last night, so that was accurate - and they are his children. No progress on getting the final hostage out though, so things are still buttoned down. I don't know if I'll have more for awhile - I'm off to the conference, and I don't know if I'll have time or info to post. I'll update this tonight when I get back.

There's a comment from Dirk up this thread, and he informs me that there are two people trapped in a nearby apartment who can't leave due to the cordon. That's probably part of the initial confusion on the number and location of the hostage taking.