A dozen men were fined $200 each this week, after police responding to a report of a man with a firearm in Colebrook Park Tuesday discovered a pair of airsoft pistols in the Surrey greenspace.
According to a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, a “large emergency response” was deployed to the 14311 Colebrook Rd. park shortly before 7 p.m. July 21.
“Witnesses who called police reported seeing a man with a gun put another male in a head lock and bring him into the bushes,” the release states.
On arrival, police arrested a group of men aged 25 to 30 years old.
The men then told officers the action was all part of filming for a TikTok video, and that they had two pistol-style airsoft guns in the bushes.
A search uncovered the pistols, along with a baseball bat, a camera and a chair with rope, the release states.
The 12 were then released from police custody and each issued a ticket under the city’s Parks Regulation Bylaw which prohibits the carrying of an airgun within a park without the prior written permission of the general manager.
Cpl. Elenore Sturko said the men “put themselves and others at risk as a result of their poor decision making.”
“Police have a duty to respond to all weapons calls as legitimate public safety concerns,” Sturko said in the release.
“Airsoft pistols and other replica firearms are best left at home, or better yet, for the safety and wellbeing of our community, please don’t buy one.”
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