A Kelowna, B.C., mother and her five children got a long lecture from the RCMP after a man called police complaining he had been shot at by people in a grey SUV.

Sgt. Ann Morrison says when police pulled over the vehicle in a rural area of East Kelowna, they found it full of children and guns, with their mother at the wheel.

But although the guns looked real, they were actually pellet guns.

"The kids were aged 11 to 16. Apparently they had been out at the park using the guns earlier and had asked the mom if they were able to continue to shoot on their way home. So the mother allowed that to happen," said Morrison.

"They advised that they were shooting pellets randomly outside the vehicle, over the roof, to the side. The mother was aware that this was happening inside the vehicle and thought that they were just shooting at road signs," said Morrison.

Even though no one was injured, police said the behaviour was dangerous.

"You're operating a motor vehicle and you get shot at — what you believe is a real gun. You could lose control of that vehicle, drive into another vehicle, drive into another person, run over someone. Being shot at has caused heart attacks," said Morrison.

Police said no charges were laid in the case, but they would report the incident to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.