Irvine : Man Surrenders to Police After Standoff

A man who barricaded himself in his office and allegedly threatened to shoot anybody who entered surrendered to the police Saturday after a two-hour standoff, authorities said.

Bruce Richard Senator, 31, of Orange, surrendered at 1 p.m. to police, who had evacuated an area along Sky Park Circle and alerted their special weapons team, Irvine Police Sgt. Al Murray said.

Police found three handguns, a rifle and ammunition in Senator’s office after he surrendered, Murray said.

Senator, the owner of a marketing and research company, allegedly called M & M Exchange, an answering service for Stover-Manning Securities, which patrols the building, and told the operator that he had a loaded gun and would shoot anybody who broke into his business, police said.

The operator called Ken Stover, the owner of the security company, who said he then contacted the police because the threat “sounded fishy.”

Murray said the police evacuated several blocks in the area because citizen complaints had been lodged previously against Senator, who kept a loaded gun in his office. Senator had never been arrested by the local police, Murray said.

After an attempt to reach Senator by phone failed about 11:30 a.m, the special weapons team was alerted, Murray said.

“We didn’t want to take any chances with him in case he had a loaded gun,” Murray said.

But Senator called 911, the emergency number, shortly after noon and surrendered to the police who waited outside with drawn guns.

Senator was taken into custody for a psychiatric evaluation, Murray said.