Nanaimo RCMP had to move in fast when a gun went off inside a home Mounties had under surveillance.
Police were investigating an individual suspected of having drugs and weapons in a house on Asteria Place in south Nanaimo when they saw a man waving what appeared to be a handgun late on Dec. 21.
It wasn't long before they heard a shot and saw a man and woman leave the house.
Mounties moved in, arrested the man and woman, and sent in the Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team to make sure no one was injured inside.
When no victims were found, police got a search warrant for the house and found small amounts of methamphetamine and marijuana, five replica handguns, ammunition, brass knuckles and a switch blade knife.
Police also found a starter pistol on the female suspect.
The woman was released without charges.
The male suspect, a 27-year-old Nanaimo man, was released on a promise to appear in Nanaimo provincial court at a later date for weapons-related charges, said Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong, Nanaimo RCMP spokeswoman.
Armstrong said the replica weapons concern police because it is impossible to determine if firearms are replicas or real unless they can be physically examined.