A 33-year-old man suspected of carrying a handgun caused a building near The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks to be locked down on June 17.
Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s office, along with California Highway Patrol personnel, arrived at a multi-story office building in the 200 block of East Thousand Oaks Boulevard shortly before 3:45 p.m. after receiving a call that a man had entered the building with several firearms, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
The sheriff’s office is contracted to provide police services to the city of Thousand Oaks.
Several other callers told sheriff’s dispatch the man had entered the building’s elevator and went into an unknown floor, sheriff’s officials said.
Deputies blocked public access to the building and issued a shelter-in-place order to the surrounding area through VCAlert while they searched for the man, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s investigators identified the person with the firearm as a 33-year-old man, who was conducting personal business in the building, officials said.
The man was not a security guard or law enforcement, but had a handgun in a shoulder holster, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies found the man near The Oaks mall and arrested him without incident, the sheriff’s office said. They also searched his vehicle and allegedly found a loaded semi-automatic handgun, several loaded magazines and narcotic paraphernalia.
He was booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of several charges, including a felony for being under the influence with a firearm and three misdemeanors, including possession of drug paraphernalia, jail records show.
His bail is set at $150,000 and he is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on June 22.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Search for man carrying handgun locks down T.O. office building
Reporting by Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
