A bong shaped like an AR-15 triggers reports of a gunman, California police say

An oddly shaped bong put California officers on high alert, police say.

A passerby Tuesday night spotted what looked like a rifle poking out the blinds of a third-floor hotel room and toward nearby police officers in San Diego, KGTV reported.

Officers evacuated the area around The Palms Hotel in the 500 block of Park Boulevard and halted a nearby trolley in the incident, KSWB reported.

Police also called a helicopter to the hotel about three blocks from Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres were about to play the New York Mets, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

But police say when officers investigated the hotel room, they found a couple with a gold bong, used for smoking marijuana, shaped like an AR-15 , according to the publication.

Police took the man and woman in the room into custody, but later released the woman, KSWB reported.

The man faces charges of pointing a replica gun at police, KGTV reported.

This story was originally published May 8, 2019 at 10:52 AM with the headline "A bong shaped like an AR-15 triggers reports of a gunman, California police say."