More than 1,000 weapons seized in ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood

May 8, 2019, 10:47 PM UTC / Updated May 8, 2019, 11:22 PM UTC

By Alex Johnson and Andrew Blankstein

LOS ANGELES — Federal and local agents seized more than 1,000 weapons Wednesday at a home in one of the richest neighborhoods in the country, authorities said.

Los Angeles police and agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered the rifles and pistols while serving a search warrant at the residence in the Holmby Hills area of west Los Angeles.

Real estate listings offered homes for sale at an average price of more than $17 million this week in the neighborhood, which is part of Los Angeles’ Platinum Triangle.

No further details about the weapons were immediately available, but a police spokesman said they were taken from a home near the famous intersection of Beverly and Sunset boulevards in a joint ATF-police investigation.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News that there was no threat to the public. As ATF agents helped to process the scene Wednesday afternoon, at least one truck was in the driveway waiting to remove the firearms for cataloging.

Many famous performers and artists have made Holmby Hills their home, among them Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Walt Disney and the power couple of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

It’s not the first time a veritable armory has been found at a tony home in westside Los Angeles. Four years ago, authorities discovered a private collection of tons of ammunition and a cache of guns at a condominium unit in the Pacific Palisades area.

Authorities valued the private collection at a half-million to a million dollars.