Local News in Brief : Gun-Waving Toy Store Guard Hospitalized

A security guard who waved a loaded gun in the air outside a crowded Van Nuys toy store Sunday morning was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation.

The man, whose name was not released, created a stir about 10 a.m. when he began threatening to commit suicide, talking irrationally and brandishing his gun outside the entrance to Toys R Us at Woodley Avenue and Sherman Way, Los Angeles Police Officer Josanne Jackson said.

No one was injured, although several customers gathered to watch as the guard pulled the gun from his holster and waved it skyward, authorities said.

“He was talking to himself, mumbling incoherently and pointing his gun into the air and at the sun,” Los Angeles Police Sgt. Tim Day said.

Officers summoned to the store were able to wrest the gun from the man’s grasp and then took him to Olive View Medical Center, Jackson said.

Police said they did not intend to file charges. “There’s no crime,” Jackson said. “He wasn’t attempting to harm himself, and he didn’t attempt to point it at the officers.”

Police said they did not know what caused the man to become so upset. The manager of the toy store refused to comment about the incident.

The guard will be held at Olive View for 72 hours, authorities said.