Police detain teen playing with water gun; 911 caller thought it was AR-style weapon
ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A day of playing outside with a toy water gun ended in police detaining a teenager.
It started with a 911 caller claiming a man was standing over a woman with an AR-style weapon.
Those two individuals would end up being a 13-year-old boy and his 9-year-old cousin.
‘They told me to get on my stomach’
On Sunday morning, 13-year-old Jaaxton Davis and his 9-year-old cousin Aniyah Cheeks played outside their Round Rock apartment complex.
They played with toy water bead guns they got for Christmas.
The parents of the two kids said they’d played with those toy water bead guns out in that area several times before. (Photo: KXAN) The parents of the two kids said they’d played with those toy water bead guns out in that area several times before. (Photo: KXAN) The parents of the two kids said they’d played with those toy water bead guns out in that area several times before. (Photo: KXAN)
“I was on the floor and he was shooting me constantly and I told him to stop,” Cheeks said. “Then I was screaming to my mom, ‘Please help me.’ “
As a parent called the kids inside, Round Rock police arrived.
“They were surrounding us,” Davis said. “All of their guns were pointed towards me. They told me to get on my stomach and they put me in cuffs.”
Cheek’s mom, Jordana Riddell, said she saw the whole thing.
A neighbor got a photo of the moment Davis was told to get on the ground. (Photo: Ashley Reynolds) A neighbor caught the moment Davis’ mom gave him a hug after handcuffs were taken off of him. (Photo: Ashley Reynolds)
“Trying to explain to them that they’re toys. The ammo is beads,” Riddell said. “They keep the guns on us. That’s when they’re telling my nephew to walk forward. They get him on the ground and handcuffed him.”
Ultimately, Riddell said this situation has left them all shaken up.
“How do I make them understand that it’s nothing that they did wrong?” Riddell asked.
‘We responded, I believe accordingly’
Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks said a 911 caller claimed a woman was on the ground pleading for help while a man stood over her with an AR-style weapon.
“They’re responding to a frantic 911 call with information that someone was being held against their will with an AR-15 rifle,” Chief Banks said. “We responded, I believe accordingly.”
Banks said once arriving, they couldn’t determine from a distance if the gun was real or fake.
“It had a round cylinder drum that would hold multiple magazines,” Banks said. “During that scene, the officers did point their guns at the subject until he dropped the gun.”
Banks said the officers followed their protocol by detaining Davis until they could verify it was a toy.
“The male subject was removed from handcuffs immediately,” the chief said. “Our sergeant began to explain to the mother why we responded the way we responded.”
Banks commended the kids for following police orders and helping officers de-escalate the situation.
“I appreciate the fact that he listened to commands appreciate the fact that he understood,” Banks said.
Banks said he’d like to see the toy industry not make guns look so real because it puts law enforcement in these types of situations.
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