Kelowna

Photo: Kelly Hayes - Castanet

It was all a big misunderstanding.

Several members of a basketball team from Surrey were briefly handcuffed, searched and questioned Thursday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing someone with a gun.

Police, at the Capri Mall on another matter, apparently saw someone put a gun in the waistband of their pants.

RCMP then followed the group from the Capri to a Subway Restaurant at the corner of Gordon Drive and Lawrence Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. and called for backup.

They surrounded the building and waited for patrons and staff to leave before cuffing the individuals involved.

It turns out the individuals had purchased cap guns at the Dollar Store in the Capri Mall.

Photo: Kelly Hayes

Toys

They admitted to shooting the guns in the air.

The RCMP helicopter, service dogs and at least a dozen cruisers were involved in the incident.

Gordon Drive between Bernard and Leon was blocked off during the incident.

Police confiscated the cap guns.

The teens are members of the Tamanawis Wildcats, in Kelowna for the Western Canada Boys Basketball Tournament at KSS.

Castanet's Kelly Hayes reports.