Men with Gun Look-Alikes Board Emeryville Bus

Police stop bus and search passengers one by one; two men detained for questioning

By ZOE CORNELI, AARON GLANTZ on January 18, 2011 - 6:30 p.m. PST

Emeryville police have detained two men who boarded a public shuttle bus with real-looking handgun replicas this afternoon, a police spokesman said.

The incident began at 3:43 p.m. when the Emeryville Police Department received a report of someone brandishing a gun at 40th and Watts streets, department spokesman Brian Head said. The suspect then boarded the free Emery Go Round shuttle.

A minute later, police spotted the bus and pulled it over at the corner of Hollis and 40th streets.

Seven police cars arrived on the scene, and officers pointed their guns at the bus as the roughly one dozen passengers exited one by one, walking backwards to the curb with their hands up.

Police conducted a pat search of each passenger and found that two men were concealing replica guns — one in a jacket and one in a backpack.

The guns looked “absolutely real,” Head said. “They’re pellet guns, but they’re made to look like actual working firearms that are brand-name.”

Head had no information about the relationship between the two men or what may have prompted the incident.

No arrests have been made. Head said police plan to speak to the victim who made the initial call in order to gather more information.

Reporter Aaron Glantz was on the scene and took these photos: