Teen's realistic looking air soft gun fools neighbors into calling 911

FERNDALE, Mich. (WJBK) - A Ferndale neighborhood was on high alert Monday after spotting a few teens playing with what they believed to be a real gun.

On Monday afternoon, police got a tip that kids were playing in Ferndale's Geary Park and one had a gun.

"They were just goofing around with it. They weren't pointing at people, they weren't threatening people, they didn't try to rob anybody or anything like that. They were just being 14-year=old kids," Ferndale Police Sgt. Baron Brown.

But that's the problem - neighbors didn't know that the gun is fake.

"From 20, 15, 10 feet away, a cop think that that's a real gun," Brown said.

The gun was an airsoft gun that had an orange tip at the end of the barrel, which would've indicated it was fake. However, the tip was colored black. 

Police said when they approached the 14 year old, he was cooperative and police.

"He knew that he had messed up. He's a good kid," Brown said.

Maybe that's why the kid will not face any charges.

Sergeant Brown says officers train for this type of situation by talking with the gunman to give up the weapon, real or fake, which in this case, is exactly what happened. No one no one was hurt.

Ferndale police posted the fake gun on Twitter as a warning.