A man who was traveling to the L.A. Pride parade was arrested in Santa Monica after authorities found weapons, ammunition and possible explosives in his car on Sunday, June 12.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Santa Monica police received a call about a man prowling the streets of Santa Monica early Sunday morning. The individual told officers that he was waiting for a friend and was headed to the pride parade shortly before they inspected his car and found “several weapons and a lot of ammunitions as well as Tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb.”
Police then arrested the man — later identified as James Howell, 20 — who was driving a white Acura with Indiana license plates. According to a police report, the FBI has been advised of the incident.
A source told the L.A. Times that they believed “there was no connection” between the Santa Monica arrest and an earlier mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. A Santa Monica police spokesperson added that authorities “were not aware of what the suspect’s intentions were at this point.”
Earlier on Sunday, a 29-year-old gunman named Omar Mateen killed 50 people and injured at least 53 more at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The incident is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and has been labeled by police as an “act of terrorism.”
Sunday night’s 2016 Tony Awards ceremony will be dedicated to the victims of the Orlando shooting. A candlelight vigil will also be held at SoundScape Park in Miami Beach on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
