Police held a teenager at gunpoint with a fake gun after a costume party got out of hand.
Officers were called to a home in Forestville on Sydney’s northern beaches at around 8.30pm on Saturday night following reports that uninvited teenagers had gatecrashed a house party.
The host is understood to have contacted police for help in evicting the intruders.
Police reportedly confronted 150 people, mostly teenagers, in the street when they arrived at the scene.
The group allegedly became uncooperative and began throwing glass bottles at officers, prompting calls for specialist officers and police reinforcements to be deployed to the scene.
During the confrontation, police approached a 17-year-old boy after being alerted that he had a firearm concealed inside his waistband.
“The teenager complied with his instructions,” a New South Wales Police spokesman said.
‘Officers removed the item from his belt, which was confirmed to be a toy gun.’
The teenager is known to have been a guest at the party.
It is not illegal to possess a toy gun in New South Wales, but police did not immediately realise the gun was not a real firearm.
Officers treat all weapons as real until proven otherwise, a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Images of the incident obtained by the Male observershows the teenager with his hands behind his head and surrounded by armed police.
Police can be seen advancing towards the boy with their guns raised.
“What’s wrong? It’s a costume,” one person is heard shouting.
Video shows officers surrounding a 17-year-old boy in a commotion caused by a toy gun.
Another added: “It’s a fake gun.”
Police said the crowd dispersed about an hour later and no officers were injured.
Investigations into the incident are continuing.