Men Arrested After Causing Snobs Gun Scare

5 September 2019, 15:31 | Updated: 5 September 2019, 15:32

Two men have been arrested after one pulled out an imitation handgun during an argument at Snobs nightclub.

West Mids Police were directed there just after 1am on Thursday (5 Sept) after security reported a man had a pistol in his back pocket.

Their descriptions were then handed to CCTV operaters who then watched them walk down Hurst Street.

Moments later they came face to face with armed police, who found one of them was hiding a BB handgun.

The 19 and 17 year olds were arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

That prompted West Midlands Police’s Head of Firearms, Chief Inspector Dawn Miskella, to say: "It may not be a lethal firearm but people in the club this morning were fearful it was a genuine, live firing handgun and that their lives were in danger.

"It’s no defence to later claim ‘it’s not real’ because there can be no justification for carrying an imitation firearm around in public. Some imitation weapons are very accurate replicas and even our firearms specialists need to examine them up close to determine they’re not real.

"If someone produces a BB handgun in a dimly-lit nightclub in the early hours of the morning then they are understandably going to cause panic – and can expect to very soon be faced with armed police carrying genuine firearms."