While there are many documented incidences involving the use of imitation guns in crime across the country, here is a selection of cases that made headlines in the past year:
January 30, 2009
Winnipeg – Six teenagers were charged with a series of pellet-gun robberies in the St. James and Crestview areas. All four are facing charges of robbery with a weapon.
January 15, 2009
London, Ont. – A man was shot and wounded by police who attempted to arrest him on a number of charges, including armed robbery and aggravated assault. Police investigators said that at the time of the shooting he was armed with a pellet gun, which was a replica of a handgun.
December 1, 2008
Corner Brook, Nfld. – A woman was charged with pointing a gun at police and assaulting an officer. Police say she was brandishing a handgun that looked like the type they use themselves. The gun turned out to be a replica.
November 25, 2008
Victoria – RCMP arrest a 38-year old woman who robbed a Mac’s Convenience store and an Esso Gas station with what appeared to be a handgun. When the woman was arrested at her home later that day police found a pellet gun.
November 25, 2008
Surrey, B.C. – RCMP hunt for a man believed to be behind five purse-snatchings in as many days. In two of the robberies, the man used a pellet gun to threaten his victims.
November 4, 2008
Toronto – R.H King Academy was put into lock down following reports that a student was showing another student a firearm. Police made an arrest and recovered a replica weapon from the school.
October 28, 2008
North Vancouver, B.C. – RCMP responded to report of a gun at Carson Graham Secondary School. A male student was found to have a pellet gun inside his classroom.
September 23, 2008
Regina – A 16-year-old male was taken into custody after he entered Luther College High School and held a held the pastor at gunpoint in front of an assembly of approximately 400 students. A student who witnessed the event said the youth approached the pastor leading the service and handed him a three-page letter, demanding that it be read or he would shoot him.
September 10, 2008
London, Ont. – Two youths faced charges after a robbery at Masonville Mall. One male brandished what was thought to be a handgun and threatened to shoot an employee. Officers later located the suspects and recovered a pellet gun.
April 25, 2008
Burnaby BC – Three youths, including one 14-year-old, were arrested after they attempted to hold a man up at a Metrotown Mall. A witness said the 14-year-old came up to him and demanded money before producing a gun. The gun turned out to be an imitation.
April 13, 2008
Lower Mainland, B.C – Police conducted a high-risk takedown after responding to a call that three men were in a bushed area with firearms. The three males, two aged 16 and one 17 were taken into custody and a pellet gun that looked like a machine pistol with silencer was seized.
April 10, 2008
Ottawa – La Cite Collegiale was put into lockdown after it was reported that someone with a gun was heading towards the school. Police arrested three teenagers who had been involved in a fight and seized a pellet gun.
January 18, 2008
Toronto – A 15-year-old student forced a three-hour lockdown at Vaughan Road Academy after bringing a pellet gun into the cafeteria. A Toronto public school board official said the student was essentially "goofing around."
January 14, 2008
St. Johns, Nfld. – Police were called and Hazen White-St. Francis School was locked down after a student was seen waiving a gun around behind the school. The weapon was found to be an airsoft pellet gun.
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