If you ever own or handle a gun, an important first rule: never point it at a police officer.
Late Tuesday afternoon, one young man broke that rule, and amazingly lived to talk about it.
He lived, because the officer kept his cool, and our cameras were there to capture the scene.
A man allegedly pointed a gun at an Erie police officer Tuesday, and in just a split second, the situation could have turned out a lot differently.
It all happened around 3:30 p.m. along west 10th street, near Chestnut.
Erie police got a call for a group of people walking along west 10th street, with guns.
The caller reported that one of the suspects was waving a handgun around, then put it in his waistband.
When police responded, they spotted the group.
Officers approached them, when one of the suspects allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at the officers.
"He was ordered to drop the gun, both me and my partner had him and the other suspect at gunpoint at which time he was within milliseconds of being shot because he didn't drop the gun and he was raising the gun towards my body. At the last second, he did drop the gun in the snow." Said Erie police officer John Popovic.
The suspects were arrested.
They're facing charges of at least disorderly conduct.
The guns turned out to be b-b guns, but they certainly looked like real hand guns, and if you point it at a police officer, it doesn't matter if it's real or not.
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