Armed officers found a BB gun while responding to reports of a firearm sighting.
Someone reported spotting what they claimed looked like a pistol at a property in Nottingham city centre.
Officers from the Armed Policing team visited the address in Low Pavement, around 4.45am today (7 August).
Following a search of the property and surrounding area, police found a firearm in a bush in a nearby alleyway.
Checks of the weapon were then made and quickly established that it wasn’t a viable firearm but was in fact a BB gun.
A 19-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in public.
Inspector Chris Chell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“While the firearm seized here didn’t prove to be a viable one, it will have caused considerable concern to anyone faced with it.
“The person who spotted it would’ve had no way of knowing if it was real or not at the time, but they did the right thing by calling us.
“Carrying a suspected firearm is a very serious offence, so it will always be met with a response befitting of this.
“The armed officers who attended in this incident did a good job identifying a suspect and locating what turned out to be a BB gun in the near vicinity.”
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