Police Called to Busy Shopping Center After Man, Dressed All in Black, Seen Loading High Powered Rifle

Pasadena police officers responded to a set of suspicious circumstances Monday at a busy shopping center which could have been the beginning of a serious incident but instead turned out to be a serious lack of common sense on the part of out-of-town visitors.

Officers briefly detained a 23-year-old man from San Diego and a 26-year-old woman from Hollywood after the man was spotted loading bullets into a rifle magazine inside a vehicle at a Pasadena shopping center on West California Blvd. on Monday afternoon.

Pasadena Police Lt. John Luna said the department received a call at about 4:03 p.m. describing these suspicious circumstances at The Orangewood shopping center at 100 W. California Blvd.

Luna said the caller described a man who was loading a gun magazine.The caller gave a description of the subjects and the vehicle they were in.

Lt. Pete Hettema said that “according to the caller’s description, the suspect was wearing a black raincoat, black pants, black boots with 2 inch heels and had long, straight black hair.”

Luna said when officers arrived on the scene near the Orangewood Center, they made a tactical approach toward the vehicle and contacted the man and woman inside.

“Preliminary investigation revealed the male subject had recently purchased a rifle and other ballistic items and he was inside the car manipulating a rifle magazine with a live round of ammunition,” Luna said. “No arrests were made and the investigation is ongoing.”

“Police expressed to the suspect concern over what he was doing in public and what the public perception might be,” Hettema said.