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Armed police swoop on fancy
dress cowgirls with toy guns
LIZ HULL
UK
Daily Mail
Saturday May 19, 2007
As gunfights go, it was something of an unequal contest.
On one side were dozens of armed police officers assisted by dogs,
with helicopters hovering over head.
On the other were two teenage girls in cowboy outfits, with one
toy gun between them.
Not surprisingly, 19-year-olds Fatima Rupp and Holly Spedding surrendered
without a fight in the stand-off outside a Tesco supermarket.
But they faced several hours in police cells before Miss Rupp was
cautioned for possession of an imitation firearm and the pair were
released.
"We were petrified when we stopped and they came screeching
up and surrounded us," said Miss Stepping, from Harrogate,
North Yorkshire.
"There were four jeeps, two vans full of dogs, armed police,
helicopters and they were screaming, "Where's the gun?"
Our gun was obviously a toy, but the guns the police pointed at
us certainly weren't imitations. They were scary. I've never seen
a real gun before, it was terrifying."
Miss Rupp added: "I completely froze and was too scared to
move an inch in case they shot me. I had a gun pointing in my face."
The incident happened as the pair drove along the M62 after a Cowboys
and Indians party at Chester University. Miss Rupp said: "Lorry
drivers were pretending to shoot me with their fingers. So I pointed
the toy gun back at them. Everyone was smiling and laughing. Some
were even pretending to die and shouting 'Bang, bang!'."
An off-duty police officer failed to see the joke, reporting the
girls for threatening motorists. Miss Rupp, who was in the passenger
seat, said she realised something was wrong when she noticed six
police cars on their tail.
The girls pulled off the motorway and into a supermarket car park
in Brighouse
"We chose Tesco's car park to stop because there were lots
of people around and we thought if they were armed they might be
a bit more careful with all the public there," added Miss Rupp,
a mother of two.
A police spokesman said: "When we receive reports of guns
being pointed at people, we have a duty to take firm action and
that means responding with armed officers.
"Imitation weapons are difficult to distinguish from the real
thing, especially at distance."
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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