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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- A man waving a gun on a street corner dropped his weapon when confronted by police at gunpoint.
"Had he not put the gun down and turned toward the officers, I know for a fact that they would have shot him," said St. George police spokesman Craig Harding.
However, it turned out that the gunman was an actor, and the gun was only a prop being used in a film currently being shot here.
The man could have been cited for disorderly conducted, but walked away only after he and other members of the film crew received a severe tongue lashing from officers, Harding said.
Police responded after receiving multiple calls from the public about a man with a gun. Officers had not been informed of any scene being shot Wednesday in this community of 49,660 people about 270 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Eric Hendershot, who is shooting "The Derbs" in St. George, said the incident did not involve a scene from his film, but Harding said no other movie is being shot in town.
"Who else could it have been?" he said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
