Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Bascue was taken into custody after shooting at officers who responded to a 911 call in the Sawtelle neighborhood of West Los Angeles late Wednesday night, police said.
Bascue called 911 from inside a home in the 1900 block of Barrington Avenue (map) at about 11:45 p.m. and reported himself on the property with weapons, according to Detective Joe Rios with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Responding officers saw Bascue sitting on his couch with two guns on his lap and the TV blaring.
When they tried to make contact with Bascue he loaded the magazines into his guns and put one of them to his head, according to Rios.
Bascue then fired a shot into the air and then tried to shoot at police, Rios said.
SWAT officers were called to the scene, but a neighbor talked Bascue into surrendering before they arrived, according to Rios.
Bascue, 75, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
Bascue was booked early Thursday morning and was being held on $100,000 bail, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records search.
KTLA’s Justin Burton contributed to this report.