He was wearing a cowboy hat and carrying what looked like a rifle at a Food Lion

Looks can be deceiving. That’s what Myrtle Beach officers came to find when a man who was reportedly carrying a rifle was actually toting a BB gun, according to a police report.

Officers were called about 3 p.m. Sunday to a Food Lion shopping center at 1009 U.S. 501 after a man was spotted wearing a cowboy hat and carrying what appeared to be a rifle, police said.

Authorities detained the man and questioned him about the weapon that turned out to be a “daisy BB gun,” the report states.

The 40-year-old man told police he is homeless, has owned the gun for more than a year, and was simply moving it from one location to another, the report says.

He also told police he planned to use the weapon to hunt ducks outside the city once he got his duck hunting license.

The suspect was arrested and charged with possession of an illegal weapon, jail records show.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 9:26 AM with the headline "He was wearing a cowboy hat and carrying what looked like a rifle at a Food Lion."