A man who threatened a young girl with a butcher knife Friday outside a Walgreens pharmacy in Echo Park was taken into custody.
The suspect was reported about 6:55 p.m. to be armed with a large knife threatening a girl in the doorway of the store in the 1600 block of Sunset Boulevard, near Echo Park Avenue, according to Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section.
Patrons of the store attempted to talk the man out of holding 8-year-old Natanyah Garcia from hostage. Throughout the ordeal, Garcia remained relatively calm.
"I was staying calm because I thought if I did anything crazy, he would get annoyed or something," she said.
"She was a very brave little girl, did not fidget," Victor Solomon, a good Samaritan who attempted to help the child, said.
Garcia's father said a first responder attempted to grab the man's knife, which caused him to let go of the girl and run eastbound on Sunset Boulevard.
An officer was able to catch and detain the man, who was believed to be under the influence of drugs of some kind. Police were still investigating a motive Saturday. The man was still in custody, but had not been booked, according to the LAPD.
"I was happy to be alive because I want to be a doctor and I don't want to miss out on being a doctor," Garcia said.
