Nearly the full force of the Burnaby RCMP was dispatched to a local home on Saturday – turns out it was a joke that got way out of hand, and police aren’t laughing.
Burnaby RCMP officers, Air 1, the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team and the Integrated Police Dog Services were all called to a home in north Burnaby in the 4300 block of Napier Street on July 12. The show of force was in response to a 911 call the department received from a man saying his girlfriend had sent him a text message reporting she was being shot at in her home, stated a press release.
“This was potentially a very serious situation and we responded to it the way we must, with all of the appropriate resources that are available to us,” said Burnaby RCMP investigative services officer Insp. Bob Page, in the release.
Following the incident, Mounties determined the girlfriend did not intend for her boyfriend to contact police and the text message was a joke. For this reason, police chose not to charge her with public mischief, which can carry a sentence of five years in prison if the person is found guilty of an indictable crime.
“She didn’t intentionally want the police to become involved but if it was intentional we absolutely would have charged her with public mischief,” Page said. “We urge people to use their common sense. Joking about a shooting is no joke.”
