GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – A filmmaker was taking the blame Tuesday after New York police officers were summoned to what they thought was an armed robbery, but turned out to be a location shoot for an upcoming movie. The confrontation ended peacefully when officers ordered an actor playing a gunman to drop his weapon.
“I made the mistake,” Fred Carpenter told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I was supposed to tell the local police precinct.”
Carpenter was filming a scene inside a convenience store in which a gunman takes a number of people hostage.
A passer-by apparently thought it was the real thing and called police.
“All of a sudden I’m directing and 15 police officers come in,” Carpenter said. He said responding officers “showed great restraint” disarming the situation.
Because he was filming on private property inside the store, officials and Carpenter said he was not required to obtain a county film permit.
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