Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies made a high-profile traffic stop early Thursday afternoon on Fallston's Route 1 after they thought a juvenile had a gun, which turned out to be just a toy.
Deputies got a report of someone "possibly armed with a handgun" in the 1900 block of Parsonage Lane who had left in a white SUV just after noon, spokesman Eddie Hopkins said.
Several deputies blocked traffic on the busy Route 1 corridor while one of them pointed a gun at the suspicious vehicle, according to eyewitness reports.
"It was a 12-year-old with a toy gun that he was playing with," Hopkins said. "His grandmother was driving the SUV."
Hopkins said it was a case of a "good, vigilant neighbor" who ended up being mistaken.
He said he knows many people likely saw the stop, which was treated as a "felony motor vehicle stop." Those types of stops typically involve two to three deputies, he said.
