Police were called immediately after a 12-year-old girl in Gimli found a firearm last weekend.

On April 13, at 12:35 p.m., Gimli RCMP received a report of a firearm located on the shore of Lake Winnipeg near North Lake Street and Vaughan Avenue.

Police say a family was cleaning garbage off the beach near their cottage when the 12-year-old located a sawed-off shotgun. Officers attended and seized the firearm. All found firearms are treated as loaded, and all precautions were taken. The firearm was rusted shut, so it had to be disassembled at the detachment, where officers could determine it was not loaded.

The RCMP continue to investigate the firearm's origin and whether it is connected to any criminal activity.