MALIBU—On Friday January 10 at 10:30 a.m. a Malibu sheriff’s deputy was notified that a male suspect was waving a handgun at Point Dume Nature Preserve.
Deputies from the Malibu/Lost Hills station, California State Park Rangers, and a sheriff’s helicopter were quickly dispatched in search of the gunman at Little Point Dume where a male suspect was spotted pointing a handgun at a woman with her hands raised in the air while a third individual was nearby filming.
The park rangers detained the suspect and six persons on the beach. Closer examination of the handgun revealed that it was a duplicate with the orange safety tip removed- an identifier of a fake gun.
The group told officers that they were college students shooting a film for school and that the tip was removed to make it appear more realistic. The students did not have any permits, neither did they give notice to the police department, make signs, or have security to relieve the general public of what they thought they were witnessing.
The 20-year-old film student in possession of the fake handgun was arrested for a misdemeanor for removing the orange safety tip from an imitation firearm. The police station has confirmed with Canyon News that the case has not been presented for trail and thus the chargers still stand.
