HEMET: Man waving gun around kids playing in apartment pool arrested

HEMET – Officers from Hemet PD arrested an intoxicated man who was reportedly waving a gun around and acting erratically at a pool crowded with children and other tenants Tuesday, June 28. The incident occurred at the Devonshire Apartments at 2770 West Devonshire Avenue and was reported at about 8:05 p.m.

When City of Hemet emergency dispatchers were first notified about the man’s strange behavior a 911 caller reported the man, later identified as Martrell Laloane Coleman, 23, of Hemet, was in the pool area of the apartment complex and had a gun in his pocket.

Concerned 911 callers reported the pool was being used by several tenants and children when Coleman began brandishing the handgun.

As officers were responding to the complex, 911 callers updated that Coleman had removed the gun from his pocket and begun waving it around, while acting increasingly bizarre. Just before the officer’s arrival, nine children who were playing in the pool fled in fear into the poolside restroom trying to hide from Coleman.

As officers arrived Coleman reportedly jumped into the pool with his gun, possibly in an attempt to conceal the fact that he was armed. Officers took Coleman into custody without incident and recovered the handgun he had been brandishing.

The officers’ investigation revealed that Coleman, a resident of the apartment complex, was in possession of .44 caliber revolver. Officers determined the gun was unloaded.

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