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Pistol 'prank' frightens senior

Aldergrove man almost had a heart attack when an adolescent boy pulled a pistol, pointed at him at point blank range and pulled the trigger

A senior Aldergrove man almost had a heart attack when an adolescent boy pulled a pistol, pointed it at him at point blank range and pulled the trigger, Sunday afternoon.

Don Fowler said the "prank" incident was entirely unprovoked and unexpected, and was not at all funny.

Fowler had been driving his pickup truck west on 32 Avenue about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 when he spied three young boys between the ages of 11 and 14, crossing the road ahead of him in the 26800-block.

Two of the boys continued crossing from south to north in the middle of the block but Fowler stopped his truck when he noticed that one boy had stopped walking when he was in the middle of the road and stood still on the solid yellow line.

"Not knowing what his plans were I slowed right down in case he ran in front of me," said Fowler. "It was raining and the streets were wet. I pulled up very slowly and put my window down to ask if he was OK."

It was then that the boy lifted his hands up, holding a Colt-type black pistol from about two feet away from Fowler's face.

"He pointed this gun right at my face. I could see the barrel was big enough to be a .22 revolver," said Fowler. "He started pulling the trigger and I started to duck when I heard three snaps from a very real looking cap gun."

Fowler said the boy and his friends were laughing as he pulled away and drove a block and a half before stopping to catch his breath and let his pounding heart slow down before calling Langley RCMP.

Fowler, who has been taken to hospital twice this year because of his heart condition, said police did follow up but so far have no suspects in the case.

"I know this is not an earth-shattering incident but to me it might have been," said Fowler.

"But to the young fellow and his two young buddies jumping up and down and laughing on the side of the road, that sure was funny."