There were some tense moments at a historic Central Coast mission, after people reported seeing a man with a pistol in his hands on the mission grounds.
It happened just before 5 p.m. Sunday, at the Santa Ines Mission in Solvang. Someone called 9-1-1 to report they saw a man with a gun in the mission’s garden.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies set up a perimeter around the mission, and began evacuating people.
They spotted the man identified by witnesses and took him into custody without incident. Officers say Jeckson Murcia of Solvang had a realistic looking replica of a pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants.
The 23-year-old man was arrested on a brandishing a firearm charge.
