9:57 p.m. | 
After a four hour stand-off, Santa Barbara police made entry Wednesday evening into a Milpas Street apartment where they believed a 25-year-old woman with a gun had barricaded herself, but found the residence empty except for two small dogs and food burning on the stove.
The 100 block of North Milpas Street had been barricaded for hours, with many people waiting all afternoon to reenter their homes and workplaces. The Police Department’s SWAT team and its Bearcat armored vehicle were dispatched the scene.
At about 6:30 p.m., city firefighters were called in to a report of a structure fire at the apartment, and police made the decision to make entry to the residence.
“This is not over for us,” police spokesman Sgt. Riley Harwood said afterwards. “We still have to find her and check in on the welfare of her and her children.”
Police did not say if they have any idea about the whereabout of the woman, whose name was not released.
During the incident, Milpas Street was closed down between Mason and Yanonali streets, and traffic was being rerouted.
Police received a call about 2:45 p.m. from a woman who said a family member with possible mental-health issues had a gun, Harwood said.
A police crisis-negotiation team was called to the scene as well, Harwood said, along with an AMR ambulance.
A medical office below the apartment was evacuated, according to emergency radio traffic.
Noozhawk Staff Writer Lara Cooper reported from the scene.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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