San Francisco police buys back bazooka, turns out it's non-reusable 'empty tube' of weapon

A San Francisco Police officer holding a bazooka-style rocket launcher. (San Francisco Police Department Twitter)

An apparent bazooka-style rocket launcher was turned in at a San Francisco police-sponsored gun buyback event on Saturday – only to be found to be a non-reusable single-use weapon.

The shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon was among almost 300 firearms that were exchanged for cash. The firearms will eventually be disassembled, ground up and melted down.

The buyback had a strict “no-questions-asked” policy as part of the encouragement to give up guns and was organized by the San Francisco police department and the violence prevention group called “United Playaz,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"We got a bazooka off the streets. We got a cannon ball off the streets. We got assault rifles. We got everything that you can name that could destroy a whole universe and we get rid of them within hours," Rudy Corpuz Jr., executive director of United Playaz told KGO.

Unfortunately for the police, however, the bazooka has been identified as an AT-4, a single-use rocket launcher that cannot be reloaded again after firing. Many have mocked the police on social media for celebrating a buyback of the non-reusable weapon.

“Embarrassing tweet for trained police firearm experts. Unless your goal was to scare folks. It’s just an empty tube. Can’t be re-used,” wrote one user on Twitter. “That's an AT-4 Tube. It is useless after it’s fired. You didn't achieve anything except waste taxpayer money,” another Twitter user seconded.

“AT4 one time fire weapon then soldiers should break tube. It cannot be reloaded. It can be turned in as hazmat but not as a weapon. I hope they did not pay the person for it. If they did the Army should turn in all expensed tubes for cash to them,” wrote user named Scott Germain.

People were reportedly given at least $100 for a handgun and $200 for assault weapons. It remains unclear how much the individual who gave in the rocket launcher received from the buyback.