Brothers ‘just having fun’ draw Mountie tactical team, helicopter
Men in camouflage gear say they were playing game with non-lethal weapons
Reports of two men in camouflage gear carrying what looked to be high-powered rifles led an RCMP helicopter, a tactical team, a canine team and several Mounties to surround a rural property in Cassidy, south of Nanaimo, Wednesday night.
Once two brothers realized they might have attracted the heavy police presence, they walked over to the police blockade — without their guns — and told the officers they were playing an army game with non-lethal airsoft guns.
It started when Karl and Tylor Lofstrom went into the forest across from their home on Timberlands Road to enjoy an activity they’ve done for years: shooting each other with airsoft guns while dressed in full camouflage gear.
As more sophisticated airsoft guns go on the market each year, they upgrade to the latest models, which look more and more convincing, said their mother, Linda Lofstrom.
“They look pretty serious … the guns look pretty real.”
After a few hours, Karl, 18, and Tylor, 23, walked home, taking the road instead of their usual route through a field. When they passed a group of people, one man asked if they were carrying real guns, Karl said. He explained that the weapons were airsoft guns and let the man hold one.
However, about half an hour later, Karl got a text from a friend who told him there were police roadblocks on Cameron and Vowels roads, bookending the Loft stroms’ home.
Karl looked outside and saw a “helicopter doing circles around the area.” Police dogs were scouring the bushes nearby and the Emergency Response Team was on the scene with officers from the Ladysmith and Nanaimo RCMP detachments.
“I wouldn’t expect that big of a police response to come out over something like this,” Karl said.
The brothers wisely decided to leave their airsoft guns at home as they walked over to a Ladysmith RCMP officer to explain the situation.
The officer gave them a lecture about carrying imitation rifles on the road, where they might scare people.
A Ladysmith RCMP officer later told the brothers that the hunter who called in the report that brought out the police was convinced he saw a real gun because it was heavy enough to make an indent on the shoulder of one of the Lofstrom brothers.
Ladysmith RCMP could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
However, police departments have said that they treat calls about replica handguns seriously, and treat them as real guns until police can confirm otherwise.
Linda Lofstrom said she couldn’t believe the rumours circulating on social media as a result of the heavy police presence, including that there had been a shooting near the Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall or that there was a hostage situation at the Timberlands Pub.
She said her sons’ war games have never caused trouble before.
“They just have fun. I guess it took the wrong person to see them,” she said.