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Not In The Script: Armed Police Mistake Film Students For Robbers

 

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBS)  — The situation got a little too realistic for a group of film students when dozens of police officers showed up, guns drawn, where they were shooting a robbery scene for their movie project.

The students say the officers were definitely not part of the script.

"I'm just glad I didn't get shot," said one of the student actors.

An apparent misunderstanding led a nearby resident to suspect two of the student actors were robbing the liquor store in North Hollywood.

"What happened was an old lady came and knocked on the door [of the liquor store] and...we told her we were filming," said the film's director Aaron Nunez. "And, I think, she couldn't understand us that well."

The woman panicked and called police to report that two armed men were robbing the store.

Film Students' Mock Weapons
(credit: CBS)

A swarm of armed officers drove up to the shoot and they kept the cameras rolling.

CBS2 was filming overhead when the students were ordered to come outside.

"Slowly, come out with your hands up," an officer is heard saying on camera.

The students say the scene was unforgettable.

"I mean, there's nothing like hearing 30 armed police officers all pull the safety off their guns at the same time," said student actor Jonathan Taub.

Film Students
(credit: CBS)

Another actor said, "When I was going down, on the pavement, the gun I had on my holster fell to the ground and I could just feel everyone tighten."

Officers treated the students like suspected robbers until they learned that this was part of a school project, called "The Lion And The Bull".

"We're definitely laughing now," Nunez said. "We feel kind of bad that we held up traffic and that the cops had to waste resources to get out here, and the helicopters, but it's a funny story."

None of the students were arrested because Nunez was able to provide a proof of permit but apparently forgot to notify the Los Angeles Police Department of their plans -- something Nunez said he will never forget to do again.

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