KELOWNA, B.C. — A high school basketball team from Surrey, B.C., received an unfriendly welcome as members arrived in Kelowna for a tournament, but Mounties in the Okanagan city say they had no choice.
Twelve members of the Tamanawis Wildcats were taken down at gunpoint on Thursday as they ate at a sandwich shop near downtown Kelowna.
Minutes earlier, plainclothes officers had seen one of the teens walk with another boy through a mall parking lot, shooting what appeared to be a handgun, before tucking the weapon in his waistband.
“Although it may appear to be an innocent act, seeing a gun in someone’s waist band is a huge safety concern,” said RCMP Sgt. Ann Morrison.
About 10 officers swarmed the area, roads were barricaded, an RCMP helicopter hovered overhead and a sniffer dog waited nearby, as the oblivious teens mingled inside the restaurant.
When other customers had left the restaurant, police phoned the staff, told them to leave by the back door, then ordered the 12 young basketball players into the parking lot where all were handcuffed.
Two of them were carrying cap guns, one in his waist band and the other in his pocket.
Police soon realized the guns were replicas and released the boys without charges.
“We just want to remind the public that although you think you are doing something innocent and just for fun, it’s what other people perceive that act to be, and it can be very serious in nature,” said Morrison.
The Tamanawis Wildcats are competing in the Western Canada Boys Basketball Tournament at Kelowna Secondary School. (Kelowna Daily Courier, CKFR)