A man was taken into custody after pointing what appeared to be a rifle at a public school employee in West Hollywood Thursday morning, authorities said.
The incident unfolded at the Larchmont Charter School campus on the 1200 block of N. Fairfax Avenue at around 8:30 a.m.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect step out of a blue Hyundai SUV and point the weapon, prompting the school to go on lockdown and notify parents through its emergency alert system.
Anna Martin had just gotten back from dropping off her 9-year-old daughter at the school when she received a text from another parent that the school was on lockdown.
A man was taken into custody after pointing what appeared to be a rifle at a public school employee in West Hollywood on Nov. 16, 2023. 
A man was taken into custody after pointing what appeared to be a rifle at a public school employee in West Hollywood on Nov. 16, 2023. 
L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies are seen outside Larchmont Charter School in West Hollywood on Nov. 16, 2023.
“I immediately ran back to the school,” she told KTLA’s John Fenoglio. “There were sheriff’s deputies on the scene.”
Martin was not the only parent who rushed back to the school after the alert went out. Parents told KTLA that their children huddled with teachers and employees in classrooms where they avoided the windows.
The principal of the school had to call 911 several times, literally begging for help, according to Martin.
“It seems like all of us are just waiting for the day that it’s us,” she said. “I honestly thought that this would never happen there.”
Martin, along with other parents, claimed that the 911 response was too slow and that other nearby schools were never notified.
“I started calling other parents who have children in the area,” she said. “I asked the deputy if other schools had been notified once I found out the man was still at large. The answer was no.”
The suspect was arrested later near a hotel at Highland Avenue and Sunset Boulevard on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
KTLA footage from the scene showed Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies blocking several lanes of travel on Fairfax and interviewing witnesses.
Deputies later said the weapon was recovered and described it as a “rifle-type pellet gun.”
As for Martin, she said she’d like elected officials to be tougher on crime.
“The police did everything great once they got there, but there’s not enough of them and they can’t respond quickly enough if there aren’t enough,” she said.
While they have not released the suspect’s identity, investigators do not believe he has any relation to school staff or students.
