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Crime & Safety

Deputies: Student Arrested After Pointing Fake Gun at Woman

Sheriff's deputies responded to a call of a man at Point Dume waving a handgun.

A motorist flagged down a deputy from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's station Thursday morning and told the deputy that there was a man waving a handgun near the Point Dume Nature Preserve.

Deputies immediately began to search the area with assistance from a sheriff's helicopter and California State Park Rangers, according to a news release from the Sheriff's station.

Deputies saw a suspect pointing a handgun at the head of a young woman during their search. A person was holding a camera, filming them, while other people were in the area.

"Malibu sheriff's deputies and park rangers detained the suspect and six other people on the beach," states the news release.

The gun turned out to be a replica handgun, with the orange-plug tip removed, after an examination was conducted.

"The orange tip was installed by the manufacturer to ensure people would know it was not real," according to the news release.

The group of people told deputies that they were college film students who were filing a movie at the location for their school.

"The suspect, a 20-year-old film student from Valencia, was arrested for a misdemeanor, Removing the Safety Tip from an Imitation Firearm, violation of California Penal Code section 20150(A)," states the press release.

For more information on the incident, visit the sheriff's station's Nixle page.

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