Shocking images showed a swarm of police, cop cars and even an air ambulance rush to a small Essex village after reports of gunfire – officers were instead met with a video game
A swarm of armed police officers descended on a home on a quiet street after a neighbour heard gunshots and someone shouting “I’ve been shot”, but the cops uncovered something very different.
Police rushed down to Ferring, near Colchester, Essex, after a concerned resident called 999 fearing someone in the small village had been seriously injured. Armed officers, ambulances and even an air ambulance swooped to the quiet street at at around 3.30pm on Saturday, April 18, after reports of a possible shooting.
Officers however were not met with guns or injuries but instead found “someone playing Call of Duty loudly” on a new sound system.
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Images from the scene showed several police cars parked on the village road with around a dozen officer, some wielding guns and one with a chainsaw, marching down to the home. Officers however quickly confirmed they found no weapons and no injuries.
The highly realistic sound of gunfire from the game and the player shouting loudly triggered a nearby to ring the cops and launched a full emergency response, according to Your Southend.
An Essex Police spokesperson said: “We were called with concerns a person may have been injured with a firearm at an address in Sherwood Way at about 3.35pm on Saturday 18 April.
“Armed officers quickly attended the scene with the support of emergency service colleagues and confirmed no firearms were present and no one had sustained any injuries.” Essex Police added that the call to the emergency services was made with good intentions.
The Essex Police armed response unit had been called out to around 14,000 incidents in 2025, with officers from the unit arresting 336 people.
This has not been the first time a similar situation has unfolded. Armed police rushed to the Hussar’s Coffee House in Hampton Wick, in south west London, after guns being used to make a film at the cafe were confused for real weapons.
Actors, crew and makeup artists had all been filming at the spot when three police officers with “big guns” arrived and interrupted filming, back in 2016.
At the time, the Met Police said: “Police were called at 15:47hrs on Sunday, 21 February to High Street, Hampton Wick to reports of man in possession of a firearm. Officers attended and found it was a film production. No offences were disclosed.”
