Student movie shoot prompts 911 calls, tactical unit response in Oakville

Halton Regional Police are warning the public about the use of replica weapons after an evening of film-making resulted in a gunpoint arrest in Oakville.

Witnesses called police after seeing a man being held at gunpoint and forced into an apartment on Marlborough Court in Oakville late Saturday night.

Police say witnesses reported seeing a hatchet and heard screaming in the apartment.

“Due to the nature of the information provided to police, our response was immediate, and included members of the Tactical Rescue Unit,” Halton Police said in a media release.

During the search of the apartment, they located a prop handgun and a plastic hatchet.

Police took four men into custody. They told police they were film students and the weapons and screaming were part of a film shoot.

The men were released unconditionally and no charges will be laid.

Police are issuing a warning saying that prop guns can be mistaken for the real thing, which poses potential risks for public safety.

They say police will respond to any reported incident under the assumption that a weapon is real and unauthorized.

“While this particular incident ended safely, we would like to avoid a similar incident in the future,” said the release.

Residents are asked to notify police if they will be filming something that may appear suspicious to others.