Threats or actions involving replica firearms will trigger the same police response as situations involving real weapons, Ottawa police are warning, after two teenage boys were charged following a weekend “dispute.”
A group of young people were making threats with a knife and with what looked like a firearm in the 200 block of Queen Mary Street on Saturday night, according to the police service.
Police responded to the “dispute” at 8:10 p.m. and arrested four youth. Two were released unconditionally, while a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old boy are now facing unspecified charges, police said in a news release.
Officers also seized seven guns — which police said are “presumed to be paintball and air pistols” — from the home in question after executing a search warrant on Sunday.
This was one of two incidents in which replica firearms “prompted a police response,” according to the police service.
No further details on the second incident were immediately available. A police spokesperson said the investigation is still ongoing.
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Police spokesperson Const. Amy Gagnon said replica firearms are “treated the same” as real ones by police if they’re used to intimidate someone or to commit a crime.
“People need to remember that replicas look like real firearms,” Gagnon said.
“If somebody points a firearm, whether it’s a replica or real firearm, the charge would be pointing a firearm. They’re considered real and the charges are the same as if it was a real firearm.”
A suspect using either “represents a danger to public safety,” the police news release added.
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