By Mark Cowan

Birmingham Evening Mail
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom — This is the moment a teenager with a toy
gun was seconds away from being shot by armed police officers.
The striking CCTV footage shows the un-named man being confronted by
cops called to reports that someone was walking down the street flashing
what was thought to be a real weapon.
But as the police approached, the man pulled the 'gun' from his
jacket to throw to the ground — and armed officers drew their pistols.
"One later said how he began squeezing the trigger and was literally
just a couple of millimetres from taking a shot," said police firearms
trainer Rob Pedley.
"This lad came close to being killed and all because he fooling around with a toy gun and tried to worry people."


The drama took place at the junction of Newman Road and High Street, in Erdington, at 7.50pm on July 29, 2007.


It was only after the incident had ended that police realised the gun was a toy.


The CCTV footage is part of a new presentation that has been shown to
10,000 pupils across the region in an effort to steer teenagers away
from gun crime and "de-glamourise" gang culture.
The hard-hitting Guns & Knives Take Lives project was launched a
year ago and features a moving talk from Marcia Shakespeare, mother of
innocent Aston shooting victim Letisha Shakespeare.