A man was arrested after allegedly firing a handgun outside Whiskey Republic Spirits & Kitchen in Redlands. No injuries or property damage were reported from the gunfire on the evening of October 7.
According to Community Forward Redlands News, police responded to reports of shots fired roughly 30 minutes after a witness reported seeing the man fire a handgun outside the venue at 101 E. Redlands Blvd. The witness told police the man then placed the handgun inside a vehicle before officers arrived.
Arrest After Reported Gunfire
Police arrested the man after the reported gunfire.
Police arrested the man on suspicion of willfully negligent discharge of a firearm, the report states. Investigators then obtained a search warrant for his vehicle, recovering ammunition, a magazine, a holster, and an unregistered firearm commonly known as a ghost gun.
What California Law Says About the Charges
Under California Penal Code § 246.3, willfully discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner that could result in injury or death is punishable by up to one year in county jail or imprisonment under Penal Code § 1170(h), according to FindLaw.
California Assembly Bill 1621, signed into law on June 30, 2022, restricts unserialized firearm parts and kits, per LegiScan.
Other Recent Redlands Police Activity
On October 2, officers arrested a 24-year-old Mentone man on $1 million bail on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly rammed his ex-girlfriend's vehicle across the city, as Hoodline previously reported.
Police are also still investigating an armed robbery from October 2 in the 800 block of West Pioneer Avenue near Citrus Valley High School, in which three male juveniles exited a vehicle, forcibly removed a victim's necklace, and fled after one suspect displayed a firearm and threatened to shoot the victim when he tried to recover his property. That investigation remains ongoing.
A Citywide Pattern of Weapons Seizures
The Whiskey Republic incident fits into a broader pattern local officials have flagged in recent crime data. The Redlands Police Department's 2024 Annual Report found that overall violent crime in the city fell by 5%, but drug and weapons violations surged by 47% following increased proactive patrols, with Police Chief Rachel Tolber linking the spike to targeted community engagement efforts, according to Community Forward Redlands News's earlier reporting.
Illegal and untraceable firearms have surfaced repeatedly in the region this year. In August, California Highway Patrol officers arrested a Yucaipa man in Redlands following a road rage incident, a stop that led to the seizure of 20 illegal firearms, suppressors and 20,000 rounds of ammunition, Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of that gun cache arrest.
