A veteran detective was criticised by Washington DC's police chief on Monday for pulling a gun during a mass snowball fight in the city at the weekend.
Authorities said the officer, who was off duty at the time, is on desk duty while the case is under investigation.
Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she watched video clips from the weekend confrontation and has no doubt that the officer pulled his gun after snowballs hit his personal vehicle during Saturday's record snowfall.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of people gathered for a snowball fight on a major city street during the snowstorm.
Videos that appeared on the internet shortly afterwards showed a plain-clothed man holding what appears to be a gun in the snowy street.
Dan Hayes, who was covering the snowball fight for reason.tv, a libertarian website, captured the incident on camera.
Hayes said the confrontation started when members of the crowd threw snowballs at the officer's car.
"He came out of his car with a gun and then people started throwing snowballs at him, personally," he said.
The video shot by Hayes shows people continuing to throw snowballs at the off-duty officer, even after he drew his gun.
The crowd then chants, "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight!"
The off-duty officer put his gun back into its holster, but that didn't calm the crowd or the situation.
"He was upset and he was kind of talking smack to the crowd a little bit, saying, 'Throw another snowball at me. Throw another snowball,'" said Hayes.
The video then shows a uniformed police officer walking up to investigate.
Witnesses said the uniformed officer acted appropriately and did not point his weapon at anyone.
One participant, Lacy McAuley, said the off-duty officer calmed down "just a little bit" after the other police officer approached him.
Witnesses said the whole incident was resolved within a few minutes and no one was hurt.
Washington's assistant police chief told reporters on Monday he detective's badge and weapon had been withdrawn.
He did not identify the officer but he said he has more than 25 years of experience and a good reputation.
The video shows the officer telling members of the crowd his name was "Detective Baylor".
There could be a recommendation to discipline the detective, which could range from a reprimand to removal, the assistant police chief said.
AP
Watch the video below.