He warned of "mass shooting" at the Los Angeles County Fair to avoid going with his parents

© Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
Crowds cross the vast grounds of the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona.

A 22-year-old man from Sylmar, suspected of making false statements about an active shooter at the Los Angeles Fair, was arrested because he hoped to avoid going to the fair with his parents, announced the Pomona police.

"It is with the intention of creating chaos and unrest," Pomona police chief Michael Olivieri told a press conference on Saturday. "It would be captured by the media, and he could use it as an excuse for his parents not to come to the fair, a kind of crazy thing, but that's what we learned. "

Erik Villasenor, who lives with his parents in Sylmar, was arrested on Friday night because he was suspected of having sent the threat to the fair's association, Olivieri said. The chief said that in his email, Villasenor had told fair officials that "someone was planning to do a mass shot Sunday at the fairgrounds" and that he just wanted to "inform you".

"And that's all that has been said," added the chef. "So, obviously, in today 's world, a message of this type is very worrying.

Detectives, assisted by the FBI, have identified three potential suspects who could be connected to the e-mail address and then reduced them to Villasenor, Olivieri said. The authorities then went to Sylmar to make the arrest.

"He finally admitted that it was a hoax," said Olivieri about Villasenor's alleged allegations of a gunman. "He was detained and transferred to the Pomona City Prison, where he was sentenced for these threats."

The chief said his department would seek reimbursement for investigative resources devoted to the threat. Olivieri said that the case was quickly resolved largely thanks to the security measures already put in place by the city and the organizers of the show.

Following recent massive shootings in the country, L.A. County Fair operators have increased security.

"Given the environment, we have made significant investments to ensure the safety of our customers and employees," said Miguel Santana, General Manager of Fairplex in early August. Fairplex, a private non-profit organization, runs the fair, which is currently taking place in its 487-acre facility in Pomona until next Sunday. "We always take safety seriously, but we have made deliberate efforts to strengthen our security system."

Fairplex has spent $ 200,000 to build a command center in the fairground where police, firefighters and other emergency services can coordinate an emergency response, Santana said. Additional video cameras were added to monitor the perimeter of the field, as well as metal detectors and a badge scanning system to check the employees and contractors of the fair before entering the field.

After the Friday incident and the arrest that followed, Santana said that there was a good side of things: "This gave us the opportunity to test the type of systems who we worked so hard to create. " And the result, he said, was "excellent".

He had a message for people planning to go to the fair: "We have your back."