http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13108181p-13757440c.html
Fake guns cause real scare
Horseplay among co-workers triggers standoff with police
By CHRIS TOGNERI
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: December 13, 2006, 05:04:04 AM PST
A police standoff in downtown Modesto ended peacefully Tuesday morning when police discovered that what they thought was a masked gunman was in fact a group of co-workers playing with toy guns.
Police closed several blocks around Dow Diversified Inc., a construction company on the 1100 block of 14th Street, after a passer-by called 911 at 8:39 a.m. and reported seeing a man with a mask and a gun running on the street, Sgt. Craig Gundlach said.
Officer Jesse Garcia approached the business at 8:49a.m. He said he looked through the business's glass front and saw a man holding what appeared to be an assault rifle to his shoulder and aiming it inside the business.
Garcia retreated and called for backup. Dozens of officers and deputies from the police and sheriff's departments and the California Highway Patrol flooded the area.
Police began to alert businesses in the area of the potential danger, and some, including The Bee, locked doors and kept employees and customers indoors. No public schools were closed, Gundlach said.
Shortly after 9 a.m., police stopped a man in a silver Taurus one block from the business and ordered him out of the car at gunpoint. The man was identified as Joshua Kemper, 28, of Turlock.
A Dow Diversified employee said Kemper had been inside the business with four other male employees playing with Airsoft guns — replica guns that shoot plastic pellets — and planning a paint-ball excursion this weekend.
"We were just horsing around in the office," said Greg Adams, 43, of Gustine.
Adams said Kemper had left the building to put paint-ball guns in his trunk. For unknown reasons, he put on a dark-colored mask when he left the building.
The other men remained in the office, Adams said.
"We were all standing around talking when we heard all these sirens," he said.
One of the men looked outside and saw Kemper surrounded by police, Adams said. "So we all walked outside to see what was going on."
Outside, the men found dozens of officers aiming guns at them, including a sharpshooter on a roof across the street.
Police cuffed the men and held them in a nearby parking lot. Officers searched the business and found three toy handguns and one toy assault rifle, Gundlach said.
The guns are "very realistic-looking," Gundlach said.
"I can guarantee you, if a subject had come out with that (fake assault rifle) and did not immediately comply with officers' orders, we would have shot that subject," Gundlach said.
No arrests made
The three fake handguns had orange tips, as required by state law. The fake assault rifle also had an orange barrel, but it had been painted black.
Nobody was injured and police did not arrest the men. Also in the business were: Juan Navarro, 37, of Gustine; Darren Porter, 37, of Turlock; and Benjamin Kemper, 35, of Turlock.
"They were very cooperative," Gundlach said. "I can imagine they're probably feeling (embarrassed)."
Moments after the standoff, as officer Garcia talked to the men inside the business, Adams and his co-workers laughed nervously as they recounted the frightening misunderstanding.
"I still don't know why someone came in and looked through the windows," Adams said, later adding: "The landlord's probably going to ask us to leave this afternoon."
Bee staff writer Chris Togneri can be reached at 578-2324 or [email protected].
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SAFETY TIPS
Replica guns should be treated like real guns, Modesto police officials said. That means they should not be displayed in public, and they should be transported in locked boxes so as not to scare people.
"If it's a gun that has all appearances of a real gun, people should understand that it could cause alarm, and it could cause a heavy police response," Sgt. Craig Gundlach said. "This was a very alarming incident. It took a lot of resources to handle this call, unfortunately."
Gundlach urged all parents who choose to allow their children to play with replica guns to educate them on safety measures.
