Texas cops respond to 911 report of gunshots and 'fighting,' only to find children playing with toy guns at a family birthday party
A Texas City police officer gave the children toys to alleviate their fear of law enforcement, according to local reports.
Taylor Ardrey
Sat, May 8, 2021, 6:33 PM·2 min read
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- Someone called 911 on a Texas family having a birthday celebration, KTRK-TV reported.
- The caller warned of gunshots and fighting, but police found children playing with toy guns.
- One of the officers gave the children more toys to alleviate their fears of law enforcement.
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The children were reportedly playing with Nerf guns at a family member's 50th birthday party before police arrived at their Texas City residence.
"They were running around the yard and they had Nerf wars," Adriana Reyna told KTRK-TV. "They were wrestling and just enjoying family time."
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Reyna told KTRK-TV that someone dialed the police, claiming they heard gunshots and fighting.
When police responded to the scene, Reyna said the family "did not have a clue what was going on" and the kids "were very frightened." The station reported that the responding officers quickly realized the children were only using toy guns, not firearms.
One officer even gave the children more toys from his car.
"To me, kids are the future. So we need to make sure that the kids feel safe, that they can trust us," Texas City officer Taide Pineda told KTRK-TV. "So we need to build a relationship with them, try to make them grow up not hating us."
Reyna's sister-in-law told the station that 911 callers need to be "cautious."
"It could have been worse than what it was you know? Officers could've had their guns drawn, and it could've gone left really quick," Yvette Reyna told KTRK-TV.
"I thank God that the officers that handled that call didn't come guns blazing and assessed the scene properly. It scares me to know things could have gone south quickly," Reyna said in a Facebook post. "The officers were very apologetic when they realized that nothing of what was reported had taken place."
