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Police swarm private residence after believing man’s tattoo was a gun

Sarah Hofmann Contributor
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Michael Smith of Norridgewock, Maine got a rude awakening Tuesday when police surrounded his house because they thought he had a gun. But what they believed to be a weapon turned out to be a tattoo.

Smith came out of his house to yell at yard workers when they started removing a tree on his property that morning. Smith went back inside, but was shortly reawakened by cops yelling through a megaphone for him to come outside. The tree removers thought they had seen a gun stuck in his waistband.

Maine State Police Trooper Scott Duff told the Maine Morning Sentinel, “Obviously it was a misunderstanding and he didn’t have a weapon, but we had to respond to the initial report as if he did. We take all precautions when we don’t have the details.”

The cops left once they realized the misunderstanding. Smith seemed indifferent to the whole incident. He said, “I got plans today. I didn’t want to get shot.”

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Sarah Hofmann