Offices Shut After Armed Man Is Seen

Police closed a 12-story building and slowly evacuated about 500 office workers Wednesday after the owner of a snack bar spotted a man with a rifle entering the building.

But the painstaking, five-hour search of the building at 330 N. Brand St. produced nothing but inconvenience for scores of people whose schedules were disrupted, including dozens of federal workers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Small Business Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.

Police said late Wednesday they had identified a suspect they described as a “disgruntled individual” who had made threats against someone or some agency in the building on Tuesday. Police declined to name the suspect.

Workers were hustled out before they had time to save material on computer screens. Many couldn’t get their cars out of the parking garage. Others left keys and purses, missed appointments, or missed flights out of town for the holiday weekend.

Jennifer Owens missed being fitted for her wedding dress: “I’m upset. Here I am outside getting sunburned. I was supposed to leave at noon,” she fretted.

One group, instructed to remain sealed in an office without a bathroom, had to improvise with plastic bags, a trash can and a closet.

“No one ever thinks about that at times like this,” said Anthony Mabin, account representative for Atkinson-Baker, a court reporting firm.

The armed man was spotted at 9:40 a.m. as he entered the building and got on an elevator, said Sgt. Rick Young, police spokesman.

As he walked, he dropped his jacket, exposing a rifle underneath. A witness called 911, and police arrived and instructed workers to lock themselves into their suites while a floor-by-floor search was conducted.

But after an exhaustive search, police reopened the building shortly before 3 p.m. The man probably slipped out the back as soon as he realized he’d been spotted, Young said.

Workers were paraded past witnesses as they were escorted out. Because police worked from the top of the building to the bottom, those on the lower floors had to wait, locked in their offices, for hours before police got to them.

“Bored and nervous” is how Josie Negrete, credentialing analyst with One Healthplan of California, described the office mood during the hours-long wait.

“I kept thinking, this is one of the last floors, what if he realizes this is it and comes in and starts blasting?” said Kris Forward, an office clerk with Atkinson-Baker.

Some of the 33 businesses that occupy the building simply sent workers home early. The interruption meant escrows weren’t closed and medical appointments were canceled. KZLA, a country music radio station, went on automatic pilot after disc jockeys were escorted out.

“All of our nonsmokers have started smoking again,” said Dawn Alfke, underwriter for Amwest Surety.

Many workers were too distracted to get anything done--some went out on the balcony to wave to news helicopters, or watched television hoping for news.

But others took papers and briefcases out on the sidewalk with them.

“I need to get additional projections done,” explained Nancy Ferri, an accountant who sat down next to the police tape and started working as soon as she was evacuated.

She had to cancel a morning meeting, she said. When she told the participants why, “they think I’m crazy. It’s like this only happens in Hollywood.”