Man’s flashy cane makes a bang

EDMONDS – The man’s cane was painted to look exactly like a double-barrel, pistol-grip shotgun.

Enough people believed it was real that SWAT was on its way.

Police from Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood swarmed to an office building Tuesday afternoon in the 7500 block of 212th Street SW after several people called 911 to report a man standing outside with a shotgun, Edmonds Sgt. Don Anderson said.

As they later discovered, it was a man with a cane on his way to a scheduled doctor’s appointment inside the office building, Anderson said.

“Generally, I think he was exercising poor judgment,” he said. “You can’t be standing outside a business with what appears to be a shotgun and not expect somebody to be alarmed.”

The man was not arrested because he hadn’t been using his cane in a threatening manner, Anderson said.

Police closed the street in front of the building while they made contact with the man, who had gone inside.

Amy Shelley, a receptionist inside the office building, was returning from lunch with co-workers when they saw an officer outside with his gun drawn.

They waited at a nearby Dairy Queen until it was safe to go back to work, she said.

“(The man) probably had no idea he was closing down the whole street because of his cane,” Shelley said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.