Police Seize 3 Loaded Guns in 3 Hours in Pasadena Neighborhood

Police seized some significant firepower during three incidents in the same Pasadena neighborhood early Sunday, officials said.

Three loaded handguns were seized between midnight and 3 a.m. from the neighborhood centered around Fair Oaks Avenue and Claremont Street, near the Kings Villages Apartments, according to Pasadena police Lt. Anthony Russo.

The first incident unfolded about 12:20 a.m., after officers responded to a complaint about a large group congregating, Russo said. As officers approached, one person in the group discarded a loaded handgun and ran away. Police did not find the man, but the gun was recovered.

Officers then focused extra attention on the area over the next few hours, the lieutenant said.

Police pulled over a car with two people inside at about 1:30 a.m. and discovered a 9mm handgun loaded with a 50-round magazine, as well as a second high-capacity magazine, Russo said. A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, both from Adelanto, were taken into custody.

Another traffic stop at about 3 a.m. yielded a 40-caliber handgun that was also loaded with a high-capacity magazine, Russo said. The driver, a 33-year-old Pasadena man who was already on parole, was arrested.

Russo said he was pleased officers were able to seize the weaponry without any use of force, but the amount of firepower officers were encountering on the streets was cause for concern.

The gun seizures follow two attacks reported in the area in recent days.

A man was shot multiple times as he walked out of a liquor store at Fair Oaks Avenue and Harriet Street — less than two miles from Kings Villages in Altadena — on Friday night, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said. The man is expected to survive.

A 33-year-old Altadena man was fatally stabbed in a residential neighborhood in the 600 block of Devirian Place in Altadena on the night of Aug. 2, sheriff’s and coroner’s officials said.

No arrests had been reported in either attack as of Sunday.