 Students from the Tamanawis Wildcats in Surrey stand near the Subway at Lawrence Avenue and Gordon Drive on Thursday. RCMP descended on the restaurant after witnesses reported seeing some of the students with guns. The weapons turned out to be toys bought at a dollar store in Capri Centre Mall. |
Police surrounded the dozen high-school players with guns drawn at a Subway restaurant near downtown Kelowna after one of them was seen tucking a gun into the waist band of his pants.
About 10 officers swarmed the area as the teens mingled inside the eatery at Gordon and Lawrence Avenue. They blocked off parts of Leon Avenue and Gordon Drive. An RCMP helicopter flew overhead and a sniffer dog waited nearby.
Once other customers had left the restaurant, police phoned the staff and told them to leave by the back door.
The officers then ordered the 12 young men to exit and handcuffed them in the parking lot. Two of them were carrying cap guns, one in his waist band and the other in his pocket.
At least one of the boys had bought the toy guns from a dollar store and removed the red tags that indicate they're not real. Plainclothes officers had seen one of them walk with another boy through the Capri Mall parking lot. They joined their teammates at the Subway.
Police soon realized the guns were replicas and released the boys without charges.
"Although it may appear to be an innocent act, seeing a gun in someone's waist band is a huge safety concern," said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Ann Morrison.
The Tamanawis Wildcats are competing in the Western Canada Boys Basketball Tournament at Kelowna Secondary School.
