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Dillingham woman arrested for allegedly pointing airsoft gun at traffic

Jeri Mcgill was arrested on the charge of felony assault for pointing an airsoft gun at a truck in downtown Dillingham Monday evening. The orange tip of the airsoft gun was painted black, which made it appear realistic.

Monday evening a man reported to Dillingham police that a woman was walking around downtown Dillingham with a firearm, pointing it at traffic.

The man told law enforcement that Jeri Mcgill pointed something at him when he drove by Harbor Road on his way to the grocery store. When he left the store, he saw her point something at his truck again. This time, he said that he could see that she was pointing with a gun. The man called the incident scary but said that Mcgill did not fire the weapon.

Police investigated the incident. The officer found Mcgill at a house downtown. He could see through the door that the woman was seated in the kitchen with what appeared to be an Uzi submachine gun on the table in front of her.

"The officer knocked on the door," said Dillingham Police Chief Dan Pasquariello. "The woman took the gun, stuck it inside of her coat and then answered the door with the gun inside of her coat.”

The officer seized the weapon. According to police, the officer who found the weapon determined that it was an airsoft pistol that shoots plastic pellets. The factory orange tip was painted black to make it look like a real Uzi pistol submachine gun.

Pasquariello pointed out that the situation was serious, even though the weapon turned out to be an airsoft gun.

“The fact that she had painted it over to make it realistic and was scaring the man…that’s dangerous. And it’s particularly dangerous to take what police assumed was a real gun and stick it under your coat prior to contacting the officers. That’s not very funny. That’s dangerous for all involved and very foolish,” said Pasquariello.

Mcgill was arrested and transported to Dillingham Jail on the charge of assault in the third degree for recklessly putting another person in fear of imminent serious injury by means of a dangerous instrument, which is a felony.

Contact the author at avery@kdlg.org or 907-842-5281.