Palm Desert Business Park Evacuated After Employee Pulls Rifle On Customer

A man pulled out a rifle at a Palm Desert business Monday which forced nearby evacuations, authorities said.

The Palm Desert Police Department responded to KC Custom Cabinets at 77725 Enfield Lane at 1:13 p.m.

The caller reported that a man had revealed a weapon inside the business.

The man who brandished the rifle was an employee, authorities said.

“These are the types of things you see on TV — not real life,” said Connie Cote, a witness. “So, it was pretty scary.”

The incident played out for about an hour, witnesses said.

A helicopter hovered above the building as deputies on the ground surrounded the area with weapons drawn.

“(It) didn’t look like they were playing around too much,” said Colin Burke, a witness.

“At first, they came in and told us not to leave the building,” said Cote. “Then, they came in probably about a half hour after that and told us we needed to evacuate.”

Cote is an executive assistant at Sunray Technologies — her office is next door to KC Custom Cabinets.

Authorities evacuated her building and several others before making contact with the gunman — Alberto Montoya.

“I guess there was a disgruntled employee dispute about some money,” said Burke.

Authorities confiscated a deer rifle from the scene.

Montoya showed it to a customer after the two got into an argument, investigators said.

Montoya never pointed it anyone. But it disturbed the customer enough to call 911 after leaving the building.

“We just never think something like this would happen around here,” said Cote.

“We’ve never seen this much traffic on this road since I’ve been working here and never seen anything like this in my life,” said Burke.

The incident ended with Montoya giving himself up.

He walked outside the building without the rifle, showing authorities he was unarmed, and was taken into custody.

“We were just a little confused on what could be happening around here,” said Cote. “Kind of in shock.”

No one was injured.

Montoya never fired the rifle.

He was taken to the Indio Jail and booked for brandishing a weapon; resisting, delaying or obstructing a peace officer and for making criminal terrorist threats.