HALIFAX -- Two men have been arrested and are facing charges after Halifax Regional Police responded to a weapons complaint in Dartmouth, N.S. Friday afternoon.
Police received a report at 3:14 p.m. that two men had been passing a firearm back and forth in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire in Dartmouth Crossing.
Officers arrested a 26-year-old Dartmouth man at the scene. Police say they found an airsoft weapon inside his vehicle.
The second man had left the area in his vehicle before police arrived on scene. While investigators were looking for him, they stopped a similar vehicle on Dartmouth Road in nearby Bedford, N.S.
However, police quickly determined that the vehicle and driver weren’t involved in the incident.
The second man eventually returned to the parking lot in his vehicle. The 22-year-old Dartmouth man was arrested at the scene.
Police believe the men took the airsoft weapon to the parking lot and passed it back and forth, then entered the Canadian Tire store to purchase airsoft ammunition and a Co2 canister.
Investigators don’t believe there was ever a threat to public safety, but say it caused “significant alarm” to the witnesses.
The men are facing charges of possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.
They are due in court at a later date.
