A teenager is due to appear in court this morning accused of pointing an imitation firearm in the air at a Dunedin shopping mall.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The 17-year-old was arrested yesterday over the incident at the Meridian Mall on Monday, and another on Tuesday in which he is accused of threatening to stab a security guard.
Police said he had visited a local high school on Monday and shown some friends a plastic cap gun, which had caused them concern.
They said later in the day the teenager pulled the trigger of the cap gun twice at the mall, alarming shoppers.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said such stupidity was incomprehensible in the current climate.
"It could've led to far more drastic consequences with AOS being called. So that sort of stupidity shouldn't be contemplated in the current climate - or any climate."
The teenager was due to appear in Dunedin District Court on weapons and threatening to kill charges.