Video submitted by Neko Taylor and Matt Filar. | Edited by Andrew Goff.

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Officers with the Arcata Police Department detained two adults and a juvenile earlier this afternoon following a tense altercation involving a possible firearm at the Arcata Plaza, according to the Mad River Union.  

As seen in the reader-submitted video above, a shirtless man and a teenage girl were confronting onlookers in the street at the corner of Eighth and H Streets, near Jacoby’s Storehouse. The teenage girl can be seen pointing a long gun, possibly a BB gun, at people on the street and screaming “Everybody down!” as the man follows, shouting, throwing punches and spewing racial slurs at another man.

Arcata Police Lt. Chris Ortega told the Mad River Union that the two, along with another adult, were detained at Samoa and F Streets after a “high-risk” traffic stop. 

“We’re currently investigating to determine if this was a real firearm, a facsimile firearm or what it actually was,” Ortega told the Mad River Union, noting that no one was harmed in the incident.

The Arcata Police Department did not respond to the Outpost’s immediate request for comment. We’ll update this post when we know more.

Arcata Police officers arrest the teen suspect. | Photo by Matt Filar.


The Arcata Police Department has issued the following release about the incident:

On Thursday July 18, 2024, at 12:46pm, The Arcata Police Department responded to the Arcata Plaza on citizen reports of a physical altercation involving a female pointing a firearm at multiple subjects.

An officer in the immediate area located a black Toyota Tacoma leaving the Plaza which was identified by witnesses as being associated with the suspect in possession of the firearm. A high-risk traffic stop was initiated at the intersection of F Street and Samoa Boulevard. The occupants of the Tacoma, one adult male, one adult female and one juvenile female were detained. The investigation revealed the juvenile female had pointed a BB rifle at various persons on the Plaza during an altercation involving the adult male and another adult male. The BB rifle was located inside the vehicle.

The driver, 40-year-old Eureka resident James Lee Boone, was placed under arrest and booked at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for misdemeanor Assault & Battery.

The juvenile female was booked at the Humboldt County Juvenile Hall for a misdemeanor violation of Brandishing an Imitation Firearm. The adult female was released from the scene.

Anyone who witnessed the altercation is encouraged to contact the Arcata Police Department at 707-822-2428.