Armed police, ambulances and an air ambulance were scrambled to a quiet street in Ferring, near Colchester, Essex, after a neighbour reported hearing gunfire and cries of 'I'm shot'. However, upon arrival at around 3.30pm on Saturday, 18 April, officers discovered the commotion was caused by a resident playing Call of Duty loudly on a new sound system.
Images from the scene showed several police cars and around a dozen officers, some carrying guns and one wielding a chainsaw, descending on the home. The emergency response was triggered by the highly realistic sound effects from the video game and the player's shouting, which led a concerned neighbour to call 999.
An Essex Police spokesperson confirmed: '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.' The force added that the call was made with good intentions.
This is not the first such incident. In 2016, armed police were called to the Hussar's Coffee House in Hampton Wick, south west London, after guns being used for a film shoot were mistaken for real weapons. Three officers with 'big guns' interrupted filming. The Met Police said at the time: 'Officers attended and found it was a film production. No offences were disclosed.'
The Essex Police armed response unit has been called out to around 14,000 incidents in 2025, arresting 336 people.
