A D.C. Police detective went nuts after kids pelted his Hummer with snowballs at 14th and U Streets this afternoon. The veteran detective got out of his car and grabbed his gun, displaying it to the crowd. He did not immediately identify himself as a police officer. The detective calmed down once a fellow uniformed cop arrived. Someone called 911 to report a man with gun.

The snowball fight was promoted on Twitter and social networks and had close to 200 people attending.

Eyewitness Matthew Bradley told D.C.’s City Desk:

“An hour ago, we showed up to see a snowball fight already in progress. Two factions along 14th Street along the intersection. It was pretty friendly, mostly OK. At one point, there was one interaction with the police that I saw.

A cop got stuck in the snow. People stopped and helped him out.

A couple moments later, at the same intersection, was this big maroon Hummer. A small faction of people decided to target it with snowballs.

It turns out the driver of the Hummer is a detective. He got out, first waving a walkie talkie. Then he pulled out his gun. He did not identify himself as a police officer.

“There was a point where it got really tense. The experience for many people was snowball fight kind of fun…and then there’s a guy with a gun.”

Bradley says he heard that the police were responding to a 911 call for a man with a gun. D.C. Police later confirm that the gun-waving cop is a veteran detective.

Bradley has posted more photos of the entire incident.

A video of the incident made by Chris Strohm shows the aftermath–where the officer admits he pulled his gun out:

Bell says the detective was yelling and “kind of out of control.”

“It was really strange to see a police officer so upset and angry over what seemed at best a misunderstanding,” Bell explains. “At worst, it was some kids throwing a snowball at him.”

However the Assistant Chief Peter Newsham said “There was NO police pulling guns on snowball people.”

People could be heard chanting: “Don’t bring a gun to a snowball fight!”

D.C. City Desk