Police chase youths spotted '˜pointing pistol' at vehicles and homes in Sheffield suburb Â
Officers came across the two young males while out on patrol in Burngreave yesterday afternoon.Â
They asked them to stop but they ran off.Â
The bobbies caught up with them a short while later and confiscated the weapon, which turned out to be an imitation firearm.Â
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Hide AdThis comes just days after a gun was reportedly brandished during an armed robbery in an unrelated incident on the streets of Burngreave.Â
They said: 'Whilst on patrol earlier this afternoon, officers from the Burngreave Team came across two young males on the street in possession of this (imitation firearm), waving it around and pointing it at vehicles and properties.
'Upon seeing the males with the pistol, officers asked the males to stop. To raise suspicion even more, the males then decided to run from officers but were stopped a short distance away.
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Hide Ad'While people may say '˜Have you got nowt better to do than take toys off kids!', the truth is that imitation firearms such as this have the potential to cause just as much alarm and distress to someone as a viable firearm and unless you are a weapons expert you would be forgiven for thinking this was real, especially if it was pointed at you in the process of committing a crime.'
The post added: 'Not only do items like this have the potential to cause fear but they also can be quite powerful. And while people may think they are safe, they still have the ability to cause very serious harm.
'The males involved in this incident were dealt with via community resolution and we hope the words of advice given will stop any repeats of incidents like this.'
This comes as police are still hunting an attacker who brandished a gun at a man during a robbery.
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Hide AdThe 20-year-old victim was robbed by an unknown attacker in Ellesmere Road at about 6.45am on Friday.Â
Officers said it is believed the attacker was armed with a handgun but they are not sure at this stage if the firearm was discharged.
The victim suffered minor injuries but these were not as a result of a gunshot. Â
Anyone who witnessed the robbery or saw any suspicious activity is asked to ring police on 101 quoting incident number 145 of November 23, 2018.
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