Fake handgun, real police: Vernon RCMP arrest woman for pointing BB gun at passerby

A Kelowna woman was arrested after pointing a BB gun at a person in Vernon.

RCMP received a report yesterday, April 21, that a woman in a small green car had pointed a firearm at a member of the public in the 1500 block of 32 Street, according an RCMP media release.

She had first stopped on the side of the road and began throwing items out of her car onto both the road and the in the ditch.

According to police, the suspect then noticed the victim watching her. She pulled what looked like a black handgun from the car and pointed it at the victim, before getting back into the green Civic and driving southbound into Vernon.

The vehicle was seen around 5 p.m. by police at the intersection of 32 Street and 25 Avenue, where she was arrested without incident, RCMP said.

Officers searched the car and seized a small black BB gun.

The 35-year-old Kelowna woman is in police custody as the investigation continues.

"In a dynamic and unfolding situation like this involving a potential weapon, we respond according to information available to us at the time, and not after the fact," Vernon RCMP spokesperson Const. Chris Terleski said in the release. "To ensure public and police safety, we treat all firearms as real and loaded, until we prove otherwise."

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