Police Mistake Fallout Cosplayer For Bomber

Cops don't understand cosplay, or cosplayers for that matter, so they're constantly mistaking people in costume for a threat to public safety, a misunderstanding which has turned deadly on a few occasions.

Thankfully when cops in Grand Prairie, Canada were called in to investigate this Fallout cosplayer they didn't shoot first and ask questions later- because they mistook part of his costume for a bomb.

Dressed as a member of the New California Republic from Fallout: New Vegas, the cosplayer was heading to the nearest tailor for some alterations when police moved in to take action:

While on his way to Lynn’s Alterations at Bell Tower Plaza carrying a New California Republic flag, calls from concerned residents altered police who then showed up to the tailor’s shop and used their vehicles for cover, treating the entire ordeal like a live bomb situation that might end in a shootout. “At least eight officers responded with their long guns drawn,” CBC News reported

While in the middle of doing measurements for the costume, the owner of Lynn’s Alterations, Hoa Huynh, was called by police and asked if he saw any wires on the man. When Huynh confirmed that he did, they told him to exit the shop out the back entrance.

What the police and other residents had mistaken for a bomb, however, turned out to be several cans of Pringles potato chips.

Fortunately, the police tried to open a dialogue with the cosplayer before opening fire, and in so doing realized what exactly was going on. They still took him into custody but eventually released him without any charges.

Moral of the story? Fallout cosplay at a Con is cool, but Fallout cosplay on the street looks like a felony in the making.

-Via Kotaku Cosplay