Two young men were handcuffed to the ground by Montreal police on Tuesday morning after causing a major riot for possessing toy guns in the Saint-Henri neighborhood of Montreal.
Around 10:35 a.m., several calls to 9-1-1 first came in about gunshots and people walking around with guns on Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, near Place Saint-Henri.
“It came in and it had a pretty big meaning. It was a major event, said Véronique Dubuc, spokeswoman for the SPVM. The police took the threat very seriously.”
Upon arrival, officers began searching and found toy guns, Montreal police confirmed.
Everything indicates that these were plastic pistols that fired arrows that stuck to the wall.
- Listen to the interview André Gélinas, retired SPVM detective sergeant on QUB radio:
In the meantime, the two young people, aged 22 and 23, who were behind this affair, were arrested by other police officers, guns in hand, in a subway car at Lionel-Groulx station.
The scene, captured in a 47-second video, was quickly shared on social media.
It shows the officers quietly approaching the alleged suspects and asking them to show their hands.
“Lie down on the floor!” we hear over and over again.
“You’re under arrest for possession of a firearm,” one of the officers snapped while his colleague handcuffed the people.
The two men, who showed no sign of arousal, then lay on the ground near one of the officers’ gun.
After being interrogated by the authorities, they were eventually to be released after a good scare as they were toy guns.