Mount Isa Police Detective-Inspector Chris Hodgman said two men aged 23 and 24 were taken into custody and charged with public nuisance and obstructing police. 

Holding replica guns could have “serious implications”.

Highly trained police officers could have been mistaken and assumed the replicas were weapons. 

“”The gentlemen were very, very lucky that experienced officers recognised during the interception they were fake,” Detective-Inspector Hodgman said. 

“If raised this person opens themselves up to being a target,” he said.  

The men were arrested at about 9am, Sunday. 

“They will be going through the court system,” the Detective-Inspector said.

A date was still to be set for the two men’s initial court appearances. 

A witness thought the replicas were guns when he reported the matter to the police.

The two replicas from a distance appeared to be an AK47 and a handgun. 

The witness alleged that the men were in costume when holding the replicas.

One of the costumes was alleged by the witness to be Sesame Street character Bert while the other was alleged to have been wearing a silver wig. 

“There were four cop cars there within a flash of me calling.

“Hope they get more than a slap on the wrist, but I doubt it,” the witness said. 

“Apparently they wouldn’t put down their weapons when asked by police.” 

In the early hours of Sunday morning there was an influx of costumed people attending private Halloween parties and local clubs in Mount Isa. 

There have been examples in the media of police shooting people holding toy guns.

The Guardian reports in November, 2014, a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland was shot and killed by police after holding a replica gun in a playground. 

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