San Francisco, Mar 10 (IANS): Three women and a gunman were found dead at the Veterans Home of California after an hour-long standoff, the media reported.

The grim end to the situation at the facility in Yountville, a 600-acre facility north of Napa wine country, was announced at around 7.45 p.m., on Friday, hours after the gunman took the three hostages, reports NBC News.

"This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we wouldn't have to come before the public to give," Chris Childs, assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division, said at a news conference.

Childs said that law enforcement officers entered the room where the gunman was thought to be holding the hostages shortly before 6 p.m., and discovered one male and three females dead.

The identities of the suspect and victims were not released. The situation is over and there is no threat to the public but an active investigation is continuing, NBC News quoted Childs as saying.

Authorities had said they believed the suspect was armed with a rifle and was holding the hostages inside a room on the grounds.

Founded in 1884, the facility houses about 1,000 aging vets and is the largest veterans home in the US, reports CNN.

Men and women who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom live in the facility.

Residents were temporarily evacuated from the veterans home in October when fires raged through Napa County.

Yountville is a town of about 3,000 residents in the north San Francisco Bay area.