Earlier this week, the Greater Manchester Police caused a sensation when they made statements about a series of raids against organized crime suspects that included the possible recovery of 3D printed gun parts. The story was carried by the Associated Press and published all over the world.

Not long after the initial report by the GMP, TechCrunch reported that the 3D printed parts were in fact identified as a replacement extruder part and spool holder for a MakerBot.

The GMP removed the statement originally published on their website, then published a new one saying that “We need to be absolutely clear that at that this stage, we cannot categorically say we have recovered the component parts for a 3D gun”.