VICTORIA -- Victoria Police say there has been a major spike in crimes involving airsoft or replica guns, as well as pellet guns, in the city.
On Wednesday, officers responded to reports of a damaged window at Victoria City Hall.
Bowen Osoko is a spokesperson for the Victoria Police Department. He says police won't reveal who's office window was damaged, but confirms the harm was caused by a pellet gun.
"They determined that the damage was caused by a pellet, fired at the window from outside, by an airgun," said Osoko.
It's not the first time a window in the area has been damaged by a suspected pellet gun.
Approximately three weeks ago, someone shot a window in the building across the street from City Hall – the building that is home to CTV News Vancouver Island.
The window was struck on two consecutive days, by what's also believed to be a pellet gun.
Since January, the police have responded to a growing number of incidents involving people brandishing fake guns, shooting pellet guns and using other unusual projectile weapons, including a crossbow.
"There have been dozens of these files," Osoko says.
The spike in crimes with replica guns is also being felt in Vancouver, where, on Friday, the police demonstratred how hard it is to tell the difference between a real gun and a fake.
Victoria police won't say whether the shots fired at CTV's building or at Victoria City Hall came from the area of the tent encampment next door. The department does say its officers have seized mutiple replica and pellet guns from tent encampmnents and temproary housing units in the past few weeks.
