Police nearly fire on film crew shooting robbery scene

GLENDORA, Calif. (KTLA) — Police in Glendora nearly opened fire on a film crew on Thursday, believing that a real armed robbery was in progress.

It happened at 7:19 a.m. at Classic Coffee, located at 146 N. Glendora Ave., according to the Glendora Police Department.

A freelance film crew was filming a scene inside the coffee shop that simulated an armed takeover robbery, police said.

A citizen walking toward the coffee shop saw the apparent robbery in progress and called 911.

All on-duty Glendora officers responded and surrounded the coffee shop.

They entered and found two men dressed in hoodies, gloves and masks, and armed with what appeared to be a handgun and an AR-15 assault rifle.

The “suspect” with the handgun did not follow the commands of officers to drop the weapon, according to a statement from police.

The second “suspect” dropped the assault rifle on the ground when he saw officers, police said.

“Officers quickly disarmed the ‘suspect’ with the handgun who was nearly shot, had it not been for the professionalism, excellent training and skill level of Glendora police officers,” the statement said.

Officers subsequently determined that the guns were realistic Airsoft weapons.

However, they did not have the required orange tips or markings to distinguish them as false, according to police.

The restaurant’s manager said he had given the crew permission to film, but did not think about notifying police or obtaining a permit, police said.