Man with gun arrested 11 hours after standoff in Santa Ana parking lot forces store evacuations

By David González, Leanne Suter, Irene Cruz

Click here for updates on this story

    SANTA ANA, California (KABC) — A man with a gun taped to his hand was taken into custody about 11 hours after police surrounded him in a Santa Ana parking lot, an incident that prompted evacuations of nearby stores.

The man refused to surrender, leading to an hours-long standoff that eventually came to an end around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Law enforcement responded to a strip mall parking lot in the area of 17th Street and Old Tustin Avenue after the Orange County Sheriff’s Department attempted a traffic stop, according to the Santa Ana Police Department. The standoff began after the suspect exited a vehicle armed with a weapon, police added.

The man was seen outside a Hobby Lobby store, walking in circles and pacing in the parking lot. The incident began around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and prompted an evacuation of other stores in the strip mall.

Santa Ana police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange and Tustin police departments responded to the scene. A SWAT team and crisis negotiators were also there to get the man to surrender.

He eventually did. Nobody was injured and authorities said he did not point the weapon at anyone.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.