Armed Indiana Man Arrested In California Allegedly Targeted L.A. Pride Parade
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- A heavily armed Indiana man was arrested Sunday morning in Santa Monica, California, while heading to the Los Angeles gay pride parade, and he allegedly told police he wanted to do harm to the event.
James Wesley Howell, 20, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was first reported as a prowler by concerned neighbors, police said.
Police found weapons, long rifles, magazine clips, boxes of bullets, a rifle scope and a fuel canister in Howell's car, a white Acura sedan with Indiana plates.
Powder that could be used to make explosives was also found in the vehicle, along with camouflage gear.
Santa Monica police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks tweeted that Howell told officers after he was arrested that he wanted to harm the gay pride event in West Hollywood that was taking place about seven miles away later Sunday. Hundreds of thousands attend the annual event.
His arrest came as the mass shooting that killed 50 people at a gay nightclub in Florida was still unfolding, but authorities said there did not appear to be any connection between the two events.
Heriberto Gomez, a lifelong resident who said he watches over the neighborhood where Howell was arrested, said he stepped outside at 3 a.m. Sunday and saw the man's white sedan parked in the wrong direction on the street.
Gomez said the man ran across the street and hid in bushes and overhanging trees. Gomez said it appeared the man saw him. He said it was too dark outside, and the man was too far away for him to provide a description. Another neighbor called police, and the man was arrested.
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