By ANEEKA SIMONIS
POLICE cars flooded Beaconsfield, barring incoming traffic from entering the town as they cautiously zoned in on a premises with reported firearm activity.
However, it worked out to be a complete bust – with police discovering the potentially dangerous sighted gun was actually a fake attached to iconic arcade machine, the Big Buck Hunter.
The firearm report sparked a huge police reaction, with witnesses reporting several police cars speedily making their way into Beaconsfield town centre before 4pm on Tuesday 19 April.
A large buffer zone around the Central Hotel in Beaconsfield was established, with police redirecting cars away from the town centre as armed officers zoned in on the premises.
Pakenham police Senior Sergeant Nathan Prowd said it was only once police got into the pub that they realise it was a false report.
“We were told there was a person with a firearm in the hotel but it worked out to be a person playing a video game with a fake gun,” he said.
He confirmed the big game hunting simulator was behind the mistaken report.
Beaconsfield resident Andy Jukes was alarmed when he saw the mass police response unravel before his eyes.
“Lights were flashing, sirens were going and two police cars sped by,” he said, explaining he was redirected back toward Officer when he attempted to pass through the Old Princes Highway at about 3.50pm.
Snr Sgt Prowd said although the report worked out to be false, the person who called it in did the right thing.
“That’s what they are meant to do,” he said.
