Homeless man with replica handgun arrested in downtown Kelowna park

A homeless man carrying what looked like a concealed handgun was spotted in a downtown Kelowna park and arrested this morning.

City security guards spotted the man in downtown Kelowna’s Kerry Park at around 11:30 a.m. today, June 21, according to an RCMP media release.

RCMP responded with numerous police units and a police dog and took the man into custody.

It turns out the homeless man bought the replica handgun, that shoots BBs, at a tactical store and was carrying it around, RCMP said.

The gun was seized and will be destroyed.

“While no criminal offence has technically taken place here although arguably very close these are extremely concerning sets of circumstances that could have ended very differently,” Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Michael Gauthier said in the release.

The suspect was released without charges and officers helped him to get some assistance.

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