ROCHESTER, Minn. – Officers entering a southeast Rochester apartment found themselves in the crosshairs of a gun held by a man in a shooting stance. The lead officer ducked behind the door expecting gunfire. No shots rang out. The officer peeked around the door. The man had discarded the gun and raised his hands. Robert Barnes, 61. was taken into custody. The weapon, it turned out, was a black air-soft handgun made to look like a semi-automatic. In the apartment police also recovering an air-soft weapon made to look real. Police had gone to apartment, near Mayo High School in the 1400 block of 10th Avenue Southeast, after a neighbor reported overhearing a man telling a woman in a nearby unit that he would kill her. They were denied access but entered anyway for fear of a woman’s safety. This was shortly before 3:30 p.m.
Barnes. An affinity for real-looking soft-air guns.