Police responded in force to reports of a man with a gun in Southeast Portland late Monday -- only to find a confused customer and staff at a gun store.

A passerby outside the Gun Room Inc.,

, called 9-1-1 about 6 p.m. to report that a man standing outside was holding a gun and looked "nervous and sweaty," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

Area residents reported seeing officers surround the shop and set up a perimeter with assault rifles drawn. But police quickly realized the "suspicious" man was there to sell a gun. They left without issuing any citations, Simpson said.

"The police response was appropriate," Simpson said. "If you thought someone was robbing a gun shop, you're going to show up with guns."

A man who answered the phone at the Gun Room called the incident "just a case of mistaken identity," but declined to comment further.

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