Police were asking visitors to avoid an area near the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade Friday morning after a man came at an armed security guard with a knife and attempted to rob him.
Santa Monica police asked the public to avoid the area near 3rd Street Promenade and Arizona Avenue, a very popular tourist area near the beach, just after 11:15 a.m.
Santa Monica police said a man wearing a green hat and who had a tattoo on his neck approached an armed guard who was protecting an armored vehicle.
The man came at the guard with a knife, and the guard drew his weapon and fired three shots.
It didn't appear that anyone was hit by the gunfire, but several people began posting to Twitter that they heard the commotion.
Police detained a man who appeared to have a neck tattoo and was wearing glasses shortly after 12 p.m.
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It wasn't immediately clear how long normal activities would be affected by the investigation, but yellow tape still blocked off a stretch of the Promenade.