Bridgeport police are warning residents Friday about the skyrocketing number of illegal BB guns taken off the streets over the past year.

Police say James Hicks, 54, of Bridgeport, was arrested Thursday night for pointing a BB gun at passing cars on State Street and Iranistan Avenue and pulling the trigger. Police say the weapon was not loaded.

Hicks has been charged with illegal possession of a BB gun, endangering the public and drunken and disorderly conduct.

Police say BB guns are illegal in the city. They say two other people have been arrested in similar cases over the past week alone.

Police warn residents that aiming a BB gun at the wrong person, such as a police officer, can easily get you killed.

"We don't want innocent people to die because they have a BB gun that we don't know about," says Capt. Brian Fitzgerald of the Bridgeport Police Department.

City Councilwoman Jeanette Herron agrees and says enough is enough.

"It's dangerous, these are weapons regardless if you're thinking they're a toy," says Herron. "They're still weapons, they will hurt, they will blind."

Authorities hope the public heeds their warning.