Toy gun causes scare in Norton

NORTON, MASS. (WPRI) -- A Norton teenager firing a pellet gun in his backyard drew a speedy police response Monday afternoon.

Lieutenant Todd Jackson tells Eyewitness News that police took a phone call from a resident who saw a man with a gun in the backyard of a home on Edward Street at about 4 p. m.  The caller told police that the person looked like he was trying to enter a home but then ran into nearby woods and hid.

Officers arrived and found the person holding what appeared to be a gun, and put him in handcuffs - then found that he was a 15 year-old boy and the weapon was a black pellet gun.  They released him and no charges were filed.

In a statement, Lt. Jackson said the department believes the response was "adequate" considering that there had recently been a housebreak in the neighborhood, and the alarm with which the caller reported the incident to police.

However, the boy's parents told the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle that their son was firing the toy gun at soda cans on a backyard picnic table and that the police response was excessive.