Police have negotiated with a masked man holding a gun and waving an American flag on an overpass, closing a major highway for hours. No shots were fired, the Associated Press reported.
Authorities did not know the man's identity or exactly what he wanted, said police Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte.
"The reason appears to be anti-war, but I don't know the specifics," Duarte said.
The man, wearing a ski mask and brown fatigues, was waving the flag with one hand and holding the handgun in the other when officers arrived at the overpass across Highway 101 just west of downtown Santa Barbara at 7:10 a.m. local time, police said.