Police surrounded a motel near Downtown Long Beach Monday afternoon while they searched for a sexual assault suspect, according to authorities.

Police said the assault happened around 2:20 p.m. in the area of Atlantic Avenue and Broadway. A woman told investigators she was with a man she’d met earlier, and, once they were alone, “He brandished a firearm and sexually assaulted her,” LBPD spokeswoman Arantxa Chavarria said.

Officers set up a perimeter around the Inn of Long Beach, but after checking two rooms, they confirmed the suspect had already left the area.

Police didn’t immediately have a detailed description of the suspect available. They believe the attack is an isolated incident, Chavarria said.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.