Barricaded suspect in standoff with Costa Mesa police

Residents and schools on Costa Mesa’s west side were put on high alert Wednesday as police faced off against a possibly armed suspect who remained barricaded inside a building after state agents attempted to execute a search warrant.

The Costa Mesa Police Department issued an initial warning to the public on social media shortly before noon, asking residents near the 1700 block of Monrovia Avenue shelter in place and urging others to keep away from the area.

The department reported officers had been helping agents with the state’s Department of Justice serve a warrant on the property when the incident occurred. By 2 p.m., police had contained the area, though the unnamed individual was not yet in custody and had still not been detained as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Representatives from the California Department of Justice confirmed agents from its Bureau of Firearms had been executing a warrant in Costa Mesa as part of an Armed and Prohibited Persons Systems (APPS) investigation.

Employed since 2006 as a means of monitoring firearms owners who may fall into a prohibited status, APPS maintains a database that cross-references those who purchase guns against records of individuals prohibited from owning firearms, according to a report posted on the agency’s website.

“The scene is currently active, and we advise all residents to stay away from the area,” a spokesperson from Atty. General Rob Bonta’s press office wrote in an email Wednesday afternoon. “No injuries are reported at this time.”

While CMPD would not comment on the nature of the investigation, an online incident log maintained by the department listed two “be on the lookout” alerts for the same street and block number at 6:54 a.m. and 10:17 a.m. A third listing shows a call regarding a vehicle theft in the same area at 9:12 a.m., although it is not known whether that is related to the standoff.

A CMPD officer Wednesday at the scene of a standoff between police and a possibly armed suspect barricaded in a building on the 1700 block of Monrovia Avenue.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

Wednesday’s incident triggered precautionary alerts at a few Newport-Mesa Unified School District campuses in the vicinity that were lifted once police reported the area had been contained, according to district spokeswoman Annette Franco.

“A handful of schools either went through precautionary shelter-in-place procedures, or a precautionary lockdown, due to the police activity in the area,” Franco said, indicating the former typically allows for the continuation of in-class instruction.

NMUSD parents were advised to stay clear of Monrovia Avenue, between 17th and 18th streets, until further notice.

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