SAN DIEGO » An armed robbery suspect set off a dramatic manhunt today after he held up a San Diego gas station, fled in a stolen car, and held a woman hostage in a home before officers shot him to death.

The man, carrying a sawed-off shotgun or rifle, robbed an Arco gas station around 11:30 a.m. and fled in a stolen two-door Suzuki that he later crashed in the working-class neighborhood of Bay Terraces.

He then tried to set the car on fire and ran to a home where he shot a resident in the foot, police Lt. Kevin Mayer tells U-T San Diego.

The suspect then ran to another home, knocked on the door, and told the man who answered that he had just committed a robbery and needed clothes, Mayer said.

The man gave him a gray, long-sleeved shirt before the suspect took off, running through yards and jumping over fences. He then darted into an open door at a home where he held a woman hostage before police managed to get her out through a window.

Officers then fired on the man, who was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m.

Two schools — an elementary and a middle school —were put on lockdown during the manhunt. Some homes in the area were also evacuated during the pursuit.

Alonso Militar said he was trying to come home, where his father was caring for his two children, but the neighborhood was blocked off by police.

“It’s intense when your dad says police officers are in your backyard,” Militar told the U-T. “It’s scary.”