From Captain Brian Johnson of the LAPD:
For the record, the information that was sent out via social media, email, etc was inaccurate and the children at Couer D’alane elementary school and St. Marks Catholic school were never in any danger. As an abundance of caution, the sergeant who was present requested the schools to have all the children on the play ground enter the school and remain inside until they could investigate the incident. In essence, this was the “lock down.” The following is a summary of the incident.
At approximately 1300 hours, a radio call came out stating that a male transient was yelling loudly and waiving a knife around in the air. The officers were directed to the area of Abbot Kinney and Garfield. The initial responding officers were unable to locate the suspect. However, a motor officer located the suspect at Washington and Lincoln where he was detained. The suspect had a knife in a sheath, exposed on his belt (legal) and he never removed the knife from the sheath.
The investigating officers met with the P/R (Person Reporting), who stated that he, in fact, did not see the suspect waiving the knife in the air. He only saw the suspect yelling loudly at apparently no one, and because the suspect had a knife on his belt it concerned him. The primary unit and sergeant checked the suspect for warrants and contacted LAPD Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU), as a precaution. According to MEU, there was no history of mental illness and the suspect did not meet the criteria for a 5150 hold (danger to himself or others). In addition, the officers investigation determined that no crime had been committed and the suspect was simply letting off “stem” because he was upset. The suspect was ultimately released by the officers because there was no legal reason to further detain him. The schools were immediately notified that it was safe to reopen the playground area and there was no actual threat of danger to any children.
I hope this clarifies and reassures everyone that the responding officers and sergeant were simply acting with an abundance of caution recognizing the nature of the radio call and the close proximity to the schools, but there was never any danger to the school children or staff. Simply, a concerned citizen who called the police which prompted this investigation.
