RCMP say weapon in cancelled Lunenburg emergency alert was actually gardening tool

The Mounties had asked residents to shelter or stay inside and to close and lock doors and windows. (David Bell/CBC - image credit)

RCMP say a man spotted Wednesday morning in Lunenburg County, N.S., with what was believed to be a rifle was actually carrying a gardening tool.

An emergency alert was issued around 7:30 a.m. AT after the man was spotted in the 3,000 block of Barss Corner Road in Parkdale.

The alert was cancelled about an hour later after a 48-year-old man was arrested.

"After extensive investigation and a search of the man's property, officers determined that no firearm was involved, and the man had been holding a large gardening tool, which from a distance, could have been mistaken for a firearm," RCMP said in a news release issued late Wednesday afternoon.

The man was released without charges.

MORE TOP STORIES