Photo: Los Angeles Police Department
Authorities in California stopped a potential mass shooting outside of a high-rise apartment building in Hollywood. Police received a phone call about a person having a mental health crisis who was making criminal threats on Tuesday (January 31) night. They arrested 25-year-old Braxton Johnson on charges of making criminal threats.
When officers searched Johnson's 18th-floor apartment the next day, they found multiple guns, ammunition, and body armor.
"The suspect was located on the 18th floor of an apartment building with large windows with a non-obstructed view of a public park downstairs, and some of the rifles were pointed outside the windows," LAPD Lt. Leon Tsap said during a press conference.
Tsap praised those who called 911 to report Johnson's erratic behavior, saying they saved multiple lives.
"There is a high chance that the officers, and obviously, security staff and the people who called, prevented a mass shooting from happening," he said.
Officials said that Johnson is linked to other criminal investigations outside of California but did not provide details about those cases.
Neighbors were left shaken after learning that Johnson might have been planning to commit a mass shooting.
"I do feel a little shakier, trying to believe we are safe, but we do have to feel a little more worried about it now," Hollywood resident Luiz Silva told KABC.