A group of teens could face charges, and could have been shot, after police say they pointed what looked like an assault rifle at a cop.
"Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre announced detectives are investigating an incident wherein a toy gun was pulled on an off-duty deputy," according to a news release.
It happened when the deputy was driving a personal vehicle in central Lafourche Parish.
"She noticed she was being followed closely by a pickup truck. At around 1:30 a.m., the off-duty deputy pulled into the parking lot at the LPSO Criminal Operations Center in Lockport, and the truck followed."
Investigators say the truck stopped in the parking lot, and a passenger exited and pointed a gun at the deputy’s vehicle. The occupants then apparently realized the cops was not who they thought she was, and fled.
"The off-duty deputy reported the incident and followed the vehicle to the area of Central Lafourche Drive. Additional deputies responded to the area and conducted a traffic stop. Deputies identified the occupants of the truck as three teenage males."
LPSO says they found three "gel blaster guns painted to appear as real firearms."
They did not immediately arrest the teens.
"No charges have yet been filed, but the investigation into this incident is continuing."
Detectives say the teenagers thought they were following a friend’s vehicle and were unaware they were actually following a deputy.
The sheriff says it could have ended much worse.
“Because the goal is to look like an actual firearm, neither a deputy nor a citizen would be able to tell the difference in a split-second when one is pointed at them, especially at night,” said Sheriff Webre. “Thankfully, this situation ended peacefully for all involved, but these teens’ mistake of thinking they were following friends could have had potentially deadly consequences. I urge everyone to use extreme caution when displaying firearms or realistic-looking weapons in public places, and never point a gun at anyone without legal justification. I also strongly recommend to never modify toy guns to look like an actual firearm.”
