"Everybody Down! Hit the floor!"

Those were not the words customers at Tamaqua's Boyer's Food Market expected to hear Friday morning, but that was was what Tamaqua Police Chief Dave Mattson shouted in his pursuit of an armed suspect.Customers and staff immediately complied. Mattson said the suspect "was seconds away from being shot by police" before he finally tossed his weapon to the floor. What began as an argument in the store parking lot almost turned into a deadly force situation, all because of a BB gun.Police responded at 9:41 a.m. when the Schuylkill County Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call about an armed man and a possible confrontation in the Cedar Street area. Within seconds, Mattson and Patrolmen Karl Harig and Peter Wysanchansky were on scene, taking up tactical positions.The chief observed a male walking across the parking lot and positioned his cruiser to block his exit. As Mattson exited his car, the male, identified as Gino Cicioni of Cumberland Avenue, Hometown, began to run back toward the grocery store. Cicioni had a gun holster on his waist and his hand on what appeared to be a gun butt.All three officers yelled for him to stop and put down the weapon. Instead, Cicioni continued toward the store with the officers in pursuit. When the suspect entered the store vestibule, he pulled a weapon from the holster, then began waving it around as he entered the store front.The officers continued their demands to stop and drop the weapon, with Chief Mattson ordering everyone to the floor. With his weapon drawn, the chief entered the store front and was preparing to fire just as Cicione threw the weapon in the chief's direction. As the suspect was wrestled to the floor, he blurted out "it's only a BB gun."The incident began when Cicioni confronted Bernie Kufrovitch, who was going to work at his office at Remaly's Manufacturing on Cedar Street."He was rambling and seemed anxious about something. I couldn't understand what was upsetting him," Kufrovitch said.When Cicioni attempted to follow him, patting a weapon hostered at his waist, Kufrovitch went inside and called 9-1-1.Cicioni then went back to Boyer's and told the employees to call 9-1-1 because there was a problem in the parking lot. Boyer's Front End Manager Shelly Young told the TIMES NEWS she went outside and confronted Cicioni."That guy over there has a problem with this," Cicioni reportedly told Young while patting the gun holster on his waist. Holly Gregar, in the customer service department, called police.That's when police arrived. According to first person reports from the scene, Cicioni ran back into the store, waving a pistol over his head, yelling for someone to call 9-1-1. He added that he "didn't want to hurt anyone. Tell police it's a BB gun," according to Young.The 15 customers and employees were unaware the weapon was harmless, and crouched in the checkout aisles as the gun was aimed one way, then another. The only exception was Young, who had a clear view of the gun and recognized the weapon as a BB pistol."Give them the gun and everything will be okay," Young told Cicioni.He continued waving the weapon around as the officers drew nearer, until finally throwing the weapon toward Chief Mattson."One of the customers had a toddler with her," said Dottie Goepfert, a Boyer's cashier. "When he (Cicioni) came in waving the gun, she crouched over the child in a protective position. We were all worried that someone was going to be shot. We were really glad to see such a fast police response and are grateful that no one was hurt, or had to witness a shooting.""Officers had no way of knowing the weapon was a BB gun. It looks like a real gun," Mattson stated. "Police, the people in the store, and the man who was originally confronted in the parking lot all thought the weapon was a real handgun."Cicione made no effort to identify it as a BB gun until after repeated warnings by my officers. Even if he had said it was a BB gun earlier, we can't just take his word for it. We had a possible hostage situation developing. Decisions had to be made in split seconds. We weren't going to allow him to turn it into a hostage situation, but we also wanted to resolve the situation peacefully. I easily could have shot him, over a BB gun. "Also assisting Tamaqua Police at the scene were Schuylkill County Constable Charles Rodgers and Rush Township Patrolman Corey Herring.Cicioni was arraigned before District Judge Stephen Bayer Friday afternoon on charges of possessing an instrument of a crime, issuing terroristic threats, resisting arrest, simple assault/physical menace, reckless endangerment, and disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $50,000 straight cash bond. Unable to post bond, Cicioni was transported to the Schuylkill County Prison in Pottsville.EDITOR'S NOTE: Correspondent Andrew Leibenguth also contributed to this article.