A man wielding a pellet gun was shot by police in Queens after refusing to drop the realistic-looking toy. A number of police converged on a street in Rosedale, Queens after receiving multiple calls about a man waving a gun and threatening to shoot motorists. Cops demanded that he drop his weapon and when he refused unleashed a barrage of gunfire––an estimated 20 shots based on witness accounts and the number of shell casings at the scene. The gunman was hit once in the torso, but was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and judged to be in stable condition.
The weapon that cops showed reporters as the one the man was brandishing was actually a pellet gun that was a realistic-looking reproduction of a black and silver semi-automatic pistol. A police lieutenant at the scene was treated for an abrasion to his shoulder. Initially it was thought he was shot by the man. WCBS is reporting that it's suspected that the officer was grazed by a ricocheting round fired by another cop. That story also contained the opinion of one of the pellet gun-wielding man's neighbors that he had a drinking problem.
From the quick look provided in a televised version of the story, it appears that the BB gun pictured above is the same model as the one the man was brandishing on a Queens street last night. It is manufactured by Daisy and described as "realistic," an assessment we cannot dispute.
