REDONDO BEACH : Man Held After Shots Are Fired Into Library
A man who was arrested after five shots were fired into the Redondo Beach library said he was test firing his .22-caliber rifle, a police investigator said Wednesday.
Otto Ernest, 51, of Redondo Beach was arrested on suspicion of shooting into an inhabited dwelling after a half-hour standoff in the 400 block of North Pacific Coast Highway on Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. Rick Petersen said.
Frank Phillip Cerda, 31, was also arrested but was later released.
Tuesday’s shooting did not result in any injuries, police say, although a bullet struck the leg of an officer evacuating the building. But because the bullet had traveled through a wall it did not have enough force to cause a wound.
Ernest lives in an apartment inside the Redondo Cyclery store next to the library, Petersen said.
Police responded to a call of shots fired at the library about 4 p.m., and two officers from the SWAT team were deployed as snipers, police spokesman Jeff Cameron said. Police evacuated several dozen people from the library, he said.
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