That prompted them to search the whole car.
When officers arrived they saw an assault rifle sitting in Howell's passenger seat, Santa Monica police Lt.
Residents called police to report suspicious behavior from Howell, who was parked facing the wrong way in a white sedan, police said. The early-morning arrest in Santa Monica of James Wesley Howell, 20, came just a few hours after at least 50 people were shot and killed in a gay nightclub in Orlando Florida, though authorities said they had found no evidence of a connection between the suspects.