Praise for firearms officers after gunman points two pistols at them

The West Midlands Police officers were called to New Spring Street North, Winson Green, just before 3pm on Wednesday, August 7 following reports of a domestic incident and a man inside a property making threats with a handgun.

Moments after arriving at the address a man bolted from the back door with a firearm in each hand − and pointed the handguns in the direction of the officers as they peered over the garden fence.

The cops remained calm, instructed the man to drop the weapons and brought the incident to a safe conclusion.

One of the pistols was later found to be an air weapon and the other was an imitation designed to look like a Beretta handgun.

A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing firearms with intent to cause fear of violence, assault and criminal damage.

West Midlands Police firearms manager, Chief Inspector Dawn Miskella, praised the actions of the two officers.

She said: “These two officers were confronted by a man pointing what appeared to be two handguns at them. The man was acting erratically and aggressively but they remained calm and managed to disarm the suspect and arrest him.

“No shots were fired and no-one was injured.

“Situations like this are why our officers are trained to such a high standard. Being a firearms officer is not just about being very adept with guns − it’s about composure under pressure and doing everything possible to resolve incidents without lethal force."

And Chief Insp Miskella also said the incident should act as a reminder to anyone who believes it’s OK to brandish imitation weapons or air pistols in public.

She added: “Some of these imitations can be very realistic in appearance; they are tricky for us to distinguish at first glance so members of the public are unlikely to know if it’s real or fake.

“We do get 999 calls from the public reporting seeing people with guns that turn out to be imitations − but we still take such reports very seriously and deploy armed officers. Someone who thinks they are just ‘messing around’ with an air weapon in public may soon find themselves coming face to face with the real thing."

The man detained has been bailed while further enquiries take place.