Why drinking and pellet guns don’t go together

VERNON – A Vernon man spent time in a police cell over the weekend because concerned citizens thought he was trying to rob a store.

RCMP were called to a report of a man with a gun in downtown Vernon near Shoppers Drug Mart around 3:40 p.m. Sunday.

“(It was) a little scary down there…. Because he was near businesses in the downtown they figured this individual was about to commit a robbery,” RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says.

Police say the man was drunk and carrying a black gun under his jacket when they arrived on scene and arrested the 56-year-old for possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. He was detained in cells until he sobered up and relinquished what turned out to be a pellet gun. 

“It turns out he had just purchased the pellet gun and was on his way home,” Molendyk says.

“Not the smartest thing to do.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.