Police descended on the Target shopping plaza on Nov. 7 after a Target employee reported being threatened by a customer with a gun. According to scanner traffic, the male was located in or around TGI Fridays, where it was determined that he did not have a gun, but an object that resembled one.

The police filed an incident report.

In a statement released on Facebook, the Police Department explained that the heightened response, including many officers and a K9 unit, was deemed necessary due to the current climate, in which incidents like this often turn tragic.