Police officials in West Valley City, Utah released body camera video this week from an encounter they say illustrates the difficulty of determining whether a gun is real or fake.
Officers were responding to a report of two individuals carrying guns when they entered an area behind Monroe Elementary School the night of Sept. 11 and spotted a teen partially hidden behind a brick column, according to KSL-TV.
"Police department! Show me your hands! Drop it now!," yells the officer wearing the body-worn camera in the video.
The teen is then seen disappearing behind the column, as a second teen who appeared to be carrying a weapon entered the picture.
"Stick your hands in the air!" the officer orders. "You're going to get yourself shot if you don't stop!"
The teen slowly approach the officers and minutes later both 15-year-old boy surrendered with officers discovered three very realistic looking Airsoft guns in their possession that had the colored tips removed.
"Removing those tips, being out in a dimly-lit place at night where citizens perceive it is a real gun and call the police and we're going to respond – it's just not worth the risk," Police Chief Lee Russo told the news station.
He said that the actions displayed by the teens put the officers, who believed and acted as if they were dealing with real guns, on alert.
"(One teen is) taking up a defensive position against the officers that are now advancing toward him," Russo said. "You're surmising that there may be a deadly-force confrontation, or rounds are going to be exchanged. These are highly concerning and threatening behaviors these two exhibited toward these police officers."
The teens were booked for dangerous weapons on school property, unlawful acts on school property and unlawful use of a projectile weapon.
