Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

2 days ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

2 days ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

2 days ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

2 days ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

3 days ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

3 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

3 days ago
Police: 'High Chance' of Hollywood Mass Shooting Prevented
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
February 3, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A “high chance” of a mass shooting in Hollywood has been thwarted by police seizing a cache of guns and ammunition in a high-rise apartment where several rifles were pointed toward a nearby park, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Braxton Johnson was taken into custody Tuesday after he allegedly made violent threats involving weapons to security staff at the apartment building and people outside, the agency said Wednesday.

Police searched Johnson’s apartment and found two assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines, all of which are illegal in California, as well as three handguns, a sniper rifle, a shotgun and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Investigators have not said whether they uncovered any additional evidence of a plot to target the park, or Johnson’s motive in pointing the rifles toward the area. Details about the threats that authorities said he made Tuesday have not been released.

“From what we’re seeing right now, there’s a high chance that the officers — and obviously security staff and the people who called — prevented a mass shooting from happening,” LAPD Lt. Leonid Tsap said Wednesday during a news conference.

Authorities have not identified the park, but online maps show a dog park next to the apartment complex where Johnson lived. The apartment’s management company referred media inquiries to police.

The cache of guns and their setup in the high-rise apartment were reminiscent of a 2017 massacre in Las Vegas, where the gunman fired 1,057 bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. He killed 58 people below the hotel who were enjoying an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Authorities later attributed the deaths of two more people, both of whom had been badly wounded, to the concert shooting.

Johnson, 25, remained jailed Thursday on suspicion of making criminal threats. His bail was set at $500,000. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case for potential charges.

Officers answered a report of a possible mental health situation Tuesday morning and went to the building on Gordon Street at Sunset Boulevard, an LAPD statement said.

Johnson was living alone in an apartment building on the 18th floor with large windows that offer an “unobstructed view of a park and a public area downstairs, and some of the rifles were pointed outside the windows,” Tsap said.

While Johnson was unarmed when he was taken into custody, Tsap said the weapons seized had “the ability to inflict a lot of damage to a lot of people.”

Johnson had recently moved into the apartment. He already was under investigation in a state on the East Coast for a violent crime, police said. They didn’t immediately share other details.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

DON'T MISS

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

DON'T MISS

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

DON'T MISS

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

DON'T MISS

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

DON'T MISS

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

DON'T MISS

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

UP NEXT

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

UP NEXT

Key Player in California’s Water Wars Embraces Controversial Newsom Plan

UP NEXT

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

UP NEXT

California Political Lobbying Firm Agrees to Settle Federal Fraud Allegations

UP NEXT

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

UP NEXT

US Republicans Continue Push to Override California Animal Welfare Law

UP NEXT

Trump Admin Releases After-School Grant Money, but There’s a Catch

UP NEXT

California Voters Say State Is Off Course. Housing Emerges as Top Concern

UP NEXT

Should ICE Agents Wear Masks? LA Mayor Bass Says No

UP NEXT

Brother of Army Ranger and NFL Star Pat Tillman Crashes Into Post Office

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

22 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

23 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

23 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

23 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

23 hours ago

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

24 hours ago

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

24 hours ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

2 days ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

2 days ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

2 days ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The entire board of directors overseeing Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools in Sacramento has either resigned or been removed...

20 hours ago

The entire board of Highlands Community Charter in Sacramento stepped down after a state audit found the school improperly received over $180 million and engaged in questionable spending. (Shutter
20 hours ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Reuters File)
22 hours ago

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron visit a ward for Palestinian patients at El Arish Hospital, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, in Arish, Egypt April 8, 2025. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
22 hours ago

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

U.S. President Donald Trump golfs at Trump Turnberry resort in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 26, 2025. (Reuters/Phil Noble)
22 hours ago

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

Noah Robinson, 38, was arrested after allegedly robbing a Visalia Long John Silver’s at knifepoint and attempting to flee through nearby backyards with $110 in stolen cash on Friday, July 25, 2025. (Visalia PD)
23 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

23 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

Craft Brewer Jack McAuliffe With Jim Koch of Samuel Adams
23 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

fresno
23 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend