Paintball Gun vs M4

We live in a quiet neighborhood. It's ~60 years old, pretty stable as far as home sales, and very diversified. We have people from all races and of all ages. People with newborns and elderly who moved in when the homes were new in 1958. Just a nice place to live. As Buzz said in the first Home Alone movie "we live on the most boring street in the most boring town in America". I like that. We rarely see the Police - unless you parked your car across the sidewalk during the day. Then they seem to always be around. I did call them once - two large dogs came to visit me in the garage one day and after I had gotten leashes on them and checked for tags (none. Pet owners - name, address, and phone on the tags on the dog!), I ended up calling the Police to pick them up. Helped the officer get the dogs in the car, talked for a minute, and he was gone.

So imagine the surprise when two officers walk in front of the house, right up by the house, across the yard. Both have their gun hands on their holstered weapons (Glock 22's last time I asked). They crossed my neighbors yard as well and went into her heighbors back yard. Looked the other way down the street and there were three squad cars parked. (We are nowhere near a Krispy Kreme)

I went to the back of the house and looked in the same direction as they headed. They were peering around the corner of the house looking away from my position. Very careful. No real exposure. Just to play it safe I had Thing2 get out of her room at that end of the house and get as much house between her and the situation as possible. Just to be paranoid I grabbed my Glock 17 and kept in within reach.

Went back to the front and noticed one of the officers getting something out of his trunk. Kevlar and a M4. Hmmm. Much more serious. (side note - our village hall has a SWAT locker with really cool toys. Got a quick tour of it when Thing1 was in Scouts) He headed back to the scene. A few minutes later all the officers were headed back to their cars. The wife asked if everything was ok. The cops smiled and said yes. The situation was resolved and the person was in custody. She smiled, said thanks, and commented that she hadn't seen that many cops on the street since we parked across the sidewalk. All the cops laughed.

The next day the wife called the Police station to see what happened. Apparently a teenager with a "paintball gun that resembled an assault rifle" was seen hiding in the bushes by the people who lived a few doors down. They called the Police and the teen appears to have attempted to hold off the Police. Till the guy came back with his M4. I guess a real rifle convinced the teen that getting shot was a real possibility. A good time to discover ones brains...

Update:The Krispy Kreme reference is a joke. The Police in my quiet, little town are some of the nicest people you'll meet. Easy to talk to, polite, and just nice. (said that twice - it must me true) On the other hand they are also highly agressive towards those who choose to break the law. I like that.