Concern grows over fake weapons, what’s law enforcement’s response?

WINONA, Miss. (WCBI) – The robbery of a truck stop in Winona on Thursday was a little different from most.

According to police, the suspects used a prop weapon.

The Winona Chief investigator said this type of robbery is rare for them, but he’s worried that they might become more common.

Fake weapons are becoming harder to spot, and easier to purchase. They are available online and in stores without a permit.

“Use to, most of the guns you saw like this they would be plastic you know a hard type of plastic, but now they’re not,” said Dan Herod. “They have the actual weight of a real gun and the looks of it. If somebody is pointing one of these things at you demanding money from you, it’s going to be hard for you to tell if it’s a real or a fake gun.”

Herod, says when they see a gun they have to assume it’s real. And that can also put the suspect in danger.

The suspects in Thursday’s robbery are charged with Armed Robbery because they made the victim believe it was real. But not everyone agrees with that call.

“They shouldn’t have any kind of weapon pertaining to something dangerous,” said Stevie Jones.

“They had a toy. A toy is not a gun. Process means toy without a gun. Don’t do no time you got to do the crime act according to the law. No gun, no gun,” said Jerry Purnell.

Herod fears that if parents buy these guns for their kids, accidents could happen.

“There are times that we may get calls about kids shooting birds or something in yards. If the police come up, see a kid with something like this if the kids was to accidentally point it at a police officer, or something that, police officer don’t know if it’s a real or fake gun so I would definitely warn parents about leaving their children alone with something like this,” said Herod.

No one was injured in Thursday’s Robbery.

Bond for the suspects was set at $500,000 each.