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LAPD Makes Arrest In Chinese Consulate Shooting

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The LAPD confirms an arrest was made in relation to a shooting Thursday outside the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles.

The gunfire was reported at 2:17 p.m. in the 400 block of Shatto Place at the Chinese Consulate-General in Los Angeles, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"It was a shooting at the building," Eisenman said. "No one was hurt."

Witnesses reported hearing up to 12 gunshots.

The suspect was described as an Asian man in his 60's with white hair. Police took the man into custody when he turned himself in a few hours after the shooting.

Security guard Cipriano Gutierrez reports having seen the suspect outside the consulate around 10 a.m. Thursday, holding up signs protesting human rights abuses in China.

Gutierrez said there were about 20 people inside the consulate when the man pointed a gun at the building and began firing.

"I hit the ground and I was praying," said Gutierrez. "I grabbed phone books and put them over my head. A bullet came in the room right next to my knee."

Gutierrez says the man was driving a 1990's model black Dodge sedan, with one door repainted.

KCAL9/CBS2 reporter Kristine Lazar was told that bulletproof glass at the consulate building kept anyone from being hit.

Police say they are reviewing tapes from multiple security cameras in the area.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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