Police: Janesville boy's bb gun causes scare
JANESVILLE—Police had to remind a Janesville boy of the gravity of recent shooting deaths after reports that he was walking around his neighborhood pointing a look-alike assault rifle at passing vehicles.
Police were called to the 1600 block of Lexington Drive after reports came in at about 2 p.m. today of a male in camouflage brandishing an assault rifle at passing traffic near the corner of Blackbridge Road and North Lexington Drive on Janesville’s east side, according to 911 scanner traffic.
Several officers rushed to the area and blocked off nearby streets and told neighbors to stay inside their homes as police armed with assault rifles searched yards around nearby residences.
Police soon learned that a 12-year-old boy inside a residence at the corner of Lexington Drive and Blackbridge Road had a bb gun made to look like an AR-15 assault rifle, according to a Janesville police sergeant on scene.
The sergeant said the gun was a “very convincing” replica with no markings that distinguished it as a bb gun. He said the boy was dressed in camouflage and was seen walking around the neighborhood with the gun.
Officers at the scene said they did not confiscate the gun, and the boy was not cited for any wrongdoing because he apparently did not shoot the gun outside.
The sergeant said that in the wake of the recent officer shooting in Wauwatosa and the recent school shooting tragedy in Newtown, Conn., people are on high alert over guns.
He said police explained to the boy that he had alarmed motorists, police and people in the neighborhood, and that it’s a bad idea to walk around in public openly brandishing any kind of a gun.
