A 39-year-old transient has been charged with attempted murder after brandishing a self-made shotgun in an encounter with a Redondo Beach police officer, officials announced Tuesday.
Alfredo Hernandez, whose last known address is in Harbor City, was arrested Monday evening on suspicion of possessing an illegal/dangerous weapon and assault on a police officer, according to a press release.
The incident began about 7 p.m. in the 2200 block of Carnegie Lane (map), where a person was sleeping in the bushes, the release said. An officer was sent to the location and found Hernandez, who “was immediately belligerent … and would not follow the officer’s commands to keep his hands out of his pocket.”
The suspect reached into his clothing and produced what initially appeared to be a pair of nunchucks, the Police Department said. He allegedly pointed the weapon at the officer, who then used a Taser to subdue him. Other officers were called to the scene after the Taser proved ineffective.
When they arrived the man dropped the weapon and fled on foot, officials said. The officers ultimately subdued Hernandez and took him into custody.
The weapon was later identified as a 12-gauge zip gun consisting of two galvanized 11-inch pipes, comparable to shotgun barrels, that were fastened together with electrical tape, according to investigators.
An expended shotgun shell was in one of the pipes and a live round was in the other, police said.
The device “was capable of being fired by pulling back on a block of wood that would cause a nail to strike the primer” of the shotgun round, thereby releasing the lead shot inside, the press release said.
Hernandez is being held in lieu of $1,070,000 bail, officials said, and is expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in Torrance.