California Street was blocked off near the Nob Hill Trader Joe’s for several hours Monday after residents reported seeing a man driving a purple Ferrari allegedly brandishing a gun who then barricaded himself in a nearby building before being taken into custody hours later.
On Monday afternoon, two separate alerts went out about an hour apart through the Citizen app, as well as AlertSF, telling residents to avoid the area of California and Larkin streets in Nob Hill. (AlertSF’s first notification said to avoid California and Franklin streets, but the incident took place near Larkin.)
The first alert was for a police report at 2:52 pm of a man driving a purple Ferrari allegedly flashing a gun. According to the second alert at 4:14 pm, the same man, who police said may still be armed, barricaded himself inside a nearby apartment building. As KRON4 reports, both alerts were for the same suspect.
Armed Suspect Arrested After Barricaded Standoff With Police @CitizenApp
1462 California St 4:14:08 PM PDT
Specialized units were called in, and police worked to end the standoff peacefully, according to updates on Citizen. At 7:37 pm, the suspect was safely taken into custody, and at 8:34 pm, AlertSF sent a notification that the scene had been cleared and the issue resolved.
According to Redditors, the suspect is well known in the neighborhood due to his pet duck and chihuahua who go everywhere with him. He’s allegedly been going through a mental health crisis in recent months, and friends have been trying to help him get support. One Redditor said the suspect appeared to be having a psychotic break exacerbated by the use of Google Gemini, based on his recent Facebook posts. On Sunday night, he allegedly made terroristic threats.
During the incident, a neighbor of the suspect said he was in his garage with “lots and lots of weapons.”
The suspect’s landlord reportedly said police sprayed the building with tear gas to get the suspect out in the end, as neighbors were seen leaving with N95 masks.
It wasn’t clear where the suspect’s pets were taken during the incident, as they were reportedly no longer in the building.
Image: Citizen app
Previously: Man Arrested Following Hours-Long Police Standoff After Barricading Himself Inside Palace Hotel
