Why Wasn't California Capitol Evacuated During Standoff?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — When a man barricaded himself inside a car outside the California capitol on Monday, only some areas were evacuated, but nobody was removed from inside the capitol itself.

A day later, L Street is back open and bustling with business.

"I thought it was bizarre. We have a very busy week here at the state capitol," said Sam Rodriguez.

RELATED: Man In Capitol Standoff Wanted To Bring Attention To Conspiracy

With committee deadlines quickly approaching, many capitol employees working inside say they had no idea what was going on outside. Those that did know, say they either heard it from social media or from family.

People in the north section of the building were told to move away from the north entrance.

California Highway Patrol officer George Granada says his agency didn't evacuate the building.

"This is a Sac P.D. incident, they are investigating the entire situation. We just aided them in setting up a perimeter in keeping the area safe," he said.

Granada says they knew they were dealing with a man barricading himself inside a vehicle with some kind of statement to make.

"There was nothing that led us to believe there may have been something else," he said.

Matthew Dumlao says as he scrolled through Twitter, he wondered why he hadn't heard from officers firsthand.

"I was a little bit surprised, but I thought they probably have it under control, so no need to evacuate the building," he said.

CHP Sgt. Steve White with the capitol protection division says it's up to the CHP to inform the sergeant-at-arms and Joint Rules Committee about activity on the grounds. Ultimately it's up to those groups inside to decide whether or not to evacuate.

A capitol spokesman says they don't comment on security details.