Man arrested for allegedly brandishing BB gun near shopping center

A 25-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested Saturday after he allegedly pointed a black BB gun at passersby and motorists near the Americana at Brand, police said.

Jose Barron was taken into custody 4:42 p.m. after police spotted him walking at Brand Boulevard near Colorado Street with what appeared to be a black handgun protruding from his rear pant pocket, according to Glendale police reports. Officers soon realized the weapon was a BB gun painted to look like a real handgun.

“People were actually ducking their heads and putting their hands over their faces,” Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Witnesses told police that Barron had been waving the gun in the public.

Barron reportedly told police “he was just messing around” and that officers were “violating his rights to carry a gun in America.”

While Barron was detained, he also told an officer that he was going to kill him, Lorenz said.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer, pointing a gun at a moving vehicle and brandishing a weapon in a public place, according to police reports.