Police called after masked men seen carrying fake guns

Five men hanging around a Surrey Walmart wearing masks and carrying fake pistols were just “playing around,” police said Sunday.

Surrey Mounties said the group of men were seen in the underground parkade of the Guildford Mall Walmart at about 8:40 p.m. on Saturday.

“Members of the Surrey RCMP immediately attended to the location, and located the group of males, some of them still wearing masks, and with what appeared to be pistols in their hands,” a release said. “The group of males was detained at gunpoint, and it was determined that the handguns that they had were actually imitation firearms. The group of males were just playing around, and could not give any legitimate reason for their actions in the parkade.”

Police issued a warning to the public that officers can’t tell the difference between real and imitation firearms until they can be seen up-close.