New Forest | Posted on October 9th, 2025 | return to news

Armed police descend on Burley woodland over a camera tripod

A case of mistaken identity led to local police to deploy a helicopter and armed police to a forest in Burley.

Three local nature photographers had a close brush with the law after a camera tripod was thought to be a shotgun, leading to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary deploying half a dozen armed officers, shutting a road and sending out a helicopter to confront the ‘gunman’.

Early in the morning of Wednesday 1 October, Lee Cooper was due to meet fellow photographers in a woodland in Burley near the Picket Post junction but one of the trio, Ryan Seymour, was late.

When Ryan arrived, he rushed into the woods to catch up with his friends, gripping his tripod underarm and briefly saying hello to a dogwalker.

Retelling the event, Lee said: “He pulled up, grabbed his tripod, put his gear on and ran into the woods. I think he ran post a lady with a dog. Obviously, she mistakenly thought it was a shotgun and called it in to the police as a firearm.”

Around an hour later, the third member of the group, Matt, had returned to the carpark, only to be stopped by several black-clad authorised firearms officers, who had shut the road and deployed a helicopter.

“Meanwhile, Ryan and I were in the woods, completely oblivious,” explained Lee. “We walked up the other side and, in the sky, saw a helicopter. I thought ‘Oh interesting, I wonder what’s going on?’”

The police helicopter spotted the pair and began to hover above them.

“All of a sudden, it was just a house or two above our heads. That’s when I knew something was up.”

Cooper then got a phone call from an unknown number. When he answered it, he was speaking to the head of the armed response team, who politely asked him and Ryan to come back to the car park.

“He said, ‘Hi Lee, just to inform you, everything is fine, but there are six armed police officers waiting for you at your vehicle. If you could please come back and approach slowly with no sudden movements, that would be great’,” recalled Lee.

“I turned to Ryan and said: ‘That helicopter there? That’s for us. Apparently we have a shotgun!”

It became clear that Matt had managed to explain the situation and informed the police his friends were still in the wood.

Fortunately, everyone was fine, and the police officers were able to see the lighter side of the situation.

Lee said: “They had a little laugh about it. Obviously, it was an expensive mistake: a helicopter, full road closures, several units deployed.”

Both Ryan and Lee were dumbfounded at the situation, which they found “unbelievable”. So, will Ryan arrive on time in future?

“Oh, he’ll still be late,” said Lee. “But I don’t think he’ll dress up in a full camo hoodie and run into the woods with a tripod in his arms anytime soon!”

UPDATE: This article was updated on Monday 13 October to reflect that the operation was conducted by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, not Dorset Police.