Fake Guns! Real Gang Members?
A horrible video surfaced on the internet on Tuesday night; its contents sent chills all around. Three men are seen brandishing a high powered firearm and a handgun and then heard making sinister threats. The live images caught the attention of the police and the trio and the firearms were traced to a house in Punta Gorda. The men, who are known gang members, were arrested, but what about the firearms? Here is News Five’s Hipolito Novelo with a report.
[Excerpt of Gun Clip Video]
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
A menacing video, chilling and antagonizing; Mark Anthony went Facebook live with two other men at a residence in Punta Gorda. Three men, one had his face covered, all smoking weed and passing what appears to be a high powered firearm and a handgun to each other like it was a blunt. But the public was watching….
[Excerpt of Gun Clip Video]
The authorities were informed of the video immediately and PG police tracked down these suspected gang members.
[Excerpt of Gun Clip Video]
Police in PG were not having it. They zeroed in to the location and made arrests. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says the firearms that these men were brandishing were located. However, they were fake.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“It turned out that both firearms are imitated firearm and therefore they are not really but the fact remains still that these persons were seen in this video brandishing these two firearms and were making threats. The three subjects of the video are in police custody and members of the Anti Gang Task Force are in the processes of interviewing them. We had to act quickly because just like the public we did not know that the firearms were not real and so it was important for us to be able to get to them and try as best as we can to remove the firearms out of their hands. The public was very supportive and gave us good information that led us to the two firearms and it turns out that they were imitation firearm.”
Hipolito Novelo
“What type of firearm were they imitating?”
Mark Anthony
Chester Williams
“One of them appeared to be an N4 Carbine imitation and the other one was like a twenty-five pistol imitation.”
On his Facebook page, Anthony claims to be the leader of the Blood Gang. The men, Williams says, will face gang related charges.
Chester Williams
“We are looking at charges of probably using a video recording to promote gang activity. So that is what we are doing. We might even look at inciting public terror based on their behavior in the video. The matter is being currently dealt by police.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Are you able to confirm that these men are members of gang? I know one of them has on his Facebook, leader of the Blood Gang.”
Chester Williams
“Yes. They appear to be gang members. And as you said, even on one of their Facebook page he is professing to be a member of a gang. So those are information that the police would use in order to prepare charges against them in order to using the video to promote gang activities.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
