A photo of four pistols, three of which are “BB Gun Replicas” confiscated from a 14 year old male and others, the fourth weapon is the officer’s actual service weapon. I would challenge anyone to choose which is the real pistol and which are the replicas.
The circumstances of our contact with the 14 year old were very fortunate in that the outcome was not dire, it clearly could have turned out worse for the young man. According to our officer, he encountered the juvenile at 5am riding his bicycle, carrying a back pack, which for the time and place seemed suspicious. In making contact with him, the juvenile produced one of the replicas, fortunately the officer was in a position to grab it away from the juvenile. The officer believes, in hindsight, the juvenile was simply going to hand over the replica, however, it certainly put our officer in defense mode. Further investigation showed a total of four juvenile males were breaking into vehicles in the area and we will be filing charges in juvenile court at a later date. More replica pistols were found in the possession of some of the others as well.
My point in sending this is simple, we want to raise awareness of the danger these replicas pose to those who carry them, we are asking parents for assistance in controlling these replicas and how their children use them. If our officer had not been in a position to use brute force to wrest the pistol (unknown to the officer at that immediate second that this was a replica) from the young man, our officer may have resorted to deadly force to protect himself.
I would truly appreciate your help with this matter.
Thanks!
Thomas D. Pyle II, CLEE