Reports of a man with a gun on a balcony at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills led to a standoff with police on Feb. 1, and temporary street closures on Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards before he eventually surrendered.
Hotel staff summoned police to perform a welfare check on a man staying at the hotel, and notified officers that he may be armed, Beverly Hills Police said in a news release.
When security guards knocked on his door that morning, they heard someone yell “I’m going to shoot through the door,” police said. Preliminary investigation suggests several rounds may have been fired inside the hotel room.
Officers arrived shortly before 10 a.m. When they got to the room the man barricaded himself inside, police said. A crisis negotiator was summoned, and helped convince the armed person to come out peacefully. At about 11:45 a.m., authorities announced via social media that a person had been detained, and there was no further danger to the community.
The man in the room was later arrested and identified as Joseph Leonardi, 41, of Woodland Hills. He was described as a convicted felon, and was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
No injuries were reported.
