Justin Bieber arrived in Vancouver to spend a few days unwinding ahead of his sold-out concert next week, but instead the teen pop sensation has wound up entangled in a police investigation.

The 16-year-old pop star and his dad were at Planet Lazer in Richmond B.C. Friday afternoon when a game of laser tag got rowdy.

Police say they are investigating an incident in which a 12-year-old boy suffered an injury that did not require medical attention at the time.

A Planet Lazer staffer told Vancouver-based celebrity blog ZackTaylor.ca that the "kid was surrounding Justin in the corner with his other little friends and shooting him during the game with their laser guns. Justin did what any other person would do during a laser tag game, and was just trying to get away from getting shot at and accidentally hit the kid while running away."

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said Bieber stuck around after the incident to explain what happened.

Police say they were alerted to the incident by the alleged victim's father approximately two hours later.

After talking to eyewitnesses, etalk reporter Lainey Lui said many are calling reports of a scuffle overblown.

"The questions do come up whether this is an exploitative situation," Lainey told CTV News. "(Bieber) is a burgeoning billionaire. He is the most popular popstar on the planet and there are some people who become opportunistic when they see a window."

The RCMP confirm there was an altercation at Planet Lazer, and are interviewing witnesses as part of their ongoing investigation. They cannot identify anyone involved, however, under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

No matter the outcome, Lainey believes Bieber did make at least one misstep Friday afternoon.

"If he made a mistake, it was probably going there that night," Lainey said, explaining that the entertainment centre was packed at the time with kids not only celebrating the start of the weekend, but a birthday party as well.

A celebrity of Bieber's status would probably do well to avoid such crowds, she said.

Bieber, who has built his celebrity on a squeaky-clean image, released his first single little more than a year ago. Now, his "My World Tour" is selling out arenas.

He is slated to thrill fans at Vancouver's Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Typically besieged by the screaming fans who proudly proclaim themselves "Beliebers", the Stratford, Ontario native has already had the police cancel one of his shows. In April, his concert at the Sydney Harbor was called off by police after eight girls were hospitalized in a stampede for the gates.

A feverish tweeter, Bieber follows more than 87,000 people on the popular social networking site. His Twitter account has, so far, been silent on the latest allegations.

With files from CTV's Shannon Paterson in Vancouver