Video: WPPD Urges Caution When Playing With Fake Guns

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WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) — It’s a case of mistaken identity that could prove to be deadly.

Police officers in West Point and Clay County are seeing an alarming trend of people, especially young people, carrying realistic looking BB, pellet, and toy guns.

Officials from the police and sheriff’s departments remind the public that though they are trained to tell the difference between real and fake weapons, in the heat of the moment officers have to make split-second decisions to use force.

They also stress that real or not, there are penalties for using a weapon.

“If you rob a store or commit a robbery or an assault with something that looks like a real gun, and if it looks authentic enough to place the fear of imminent danger or death in the eyes of the victim, then they will be charged just like this is a real gun,” West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley said.

Officials say they have been lucky so far that there have been no injuries or deaths as a result of someone pulling a fake gun on an officer.