According to police, a man is in custody after threatening shoppers at a busy area in Orange County. News agencies reported that Hung Anh Nguyen was taken into custody after he shouted threats to bystanders at a shopping center. Apparently he was wielding a pair of samurai swords at the time.
He remained jailed on Sunday September 8. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was also charged with the possession of illegal swords. Sword laws in California are complicated.
Many types of blades are considered unlawful. Nevertheless, some citizens argue that there are legitimate reasons to own such blades. Marital artists, cultural collectors and some types of art historians feel that they need access to such blades. Unfortunately, cases like these often sway policymakers more than anything else.
According to a corporal from the Santa Ana police force, Nguyen was in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. He was there on the night of Friday September 6 when he drew the swords. He then started to scream out threats and various obscenities.
Police officers arrived on the scene. When they were there they tried to calm him, but when they did Nguyen threatened them. He refused to follow repeated orders. Apparently the police were telling him to put down his swords.
He shouted back saying that they would have to kill him before he would ever surrender. Several officers surrounded Nguyen. They then subdued him with a stun gun since it seemed that there would be no other way to apprehend him without causing someone harm. In spite of his weapons, however, it does not appear as though anyone was hurt.
While further information on Nguyen was not available, it appears as though he is relatively unhurt. The stun gun blast was not lethal, and the police reported that he was in custody on September 8, which means that he is probably in decent shape. Naturally he will be granted the right to an attorney and given the right to receive a fair trial if charges go that far.