WeHo Standoff Ensues After Apparent Landlord-Tenant Dispute
WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) - A man who allegedly fired shots while holed up for hours in a West Hollywood apartment building was in custody Tuesday, authorities said.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Special Weapons Team and a crisis negotiation team were summoned just before 1:30 p.m. to the high-rise in the 900 block of Doheny Drive, according to Sgt. Vincent Plair of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.
The standoff appears to have stemmed from a landlord-tenant dispute, after which shots were heard, authorities told CBS2's Jeff Nguyen.
The unidentified man was taken into custody without incident about 5:30 p.m. No injuries were reported.
"When deputies approached the apartment, they heard shots fired so those deputies backed away and contained that location and began evacuations," said Capt. Sergio Aloma, LASD West Hollywood.
The Sheriff's Department brought in their Special Enforcement Bureau, crisis negotiators and mental health team to try and get the man to surrender peacefully. But he refused and continued to rant.
Overhead footage from SKY2 from the scene appeared to show the man was nude at one point and had thrown numerous objects from a first or second-floor apartment and fired shots during the standoff, but no injuries were reported.
At one point, a drone believed to belong to authorities was spotted hovering over the condo, where an Israeli flag was seen hanging from the balcony.
No gun was initially found at the scene.
"He was insulting the police, saying all the bad words, the f-words and all that," said Renato Campora.
Campora lives one floor above and recorded the man out on his balcony. Neighbors across the street recorded too as the man kept throwing stuff out the window, at the deputies who later responded with a flashbang.
It wasn't immediately clear how the incident began.
"It was chaos. It was crazy," said building employee Patrick Ferrer.
Ferrer works at the building's front desk and wanted to clean up the mess the man left behind. Ferrer said knows the man, who neighbors say, suffers from schizophrenia.
"When he's taking his medication, he's normal. But when he's not, he's like this, throwing things around, throwing a fit," said Ferrer.
Ferrer has a message for him.
"To get some help, don't refuse help. Everybody needs help," said Ferrer.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wire services contributed to this report.)
