Atlanta Police apologises for 'inappropriate' tweet about Beyoncé pregnancy inspiring 'celebratory gunfire'

Some accused the police department of poking fun at racial stereotypes and gun violence

The photo, which has already received nearly eight million likes and exploded on Twitter, also received a strange response from Denny's

Atlanta Police Department has been forced to apologise for their “inappropriate” response to the news Beyoncé is pregnant with twins.

The pop superstar announced she is expecting twins in an Instagram post which has broken the Guinness World Record and officially become the most-liked post in the site's history.

Officers in Atlanta responded to the pregnancy news by taking to Twitter to warn people not to use “celebratory gunfire” to rejoice the news of Beyoncé’s twins.

“Beyoncé may have everyone wanting to celebrate her pregnancy, but remember no celebratory gunfire! Stay safe, Atlanta!” the department wrote on Twitter.

Some accused the police department of poking fun at racial stereotypes and gun violence while others just thought it was simply odd.

The police force has now removed the tweet from their account and apologised but has yet to comment on what caused them to compose the tweet in the first place.

The photo, which has already received nearly eight million likes and exploded on Twitter, also received a strange response from Denny's. The all-American restaurant chain, which first opened in California in the 1950's, has a history of odd tweets.

“Wow, Bey has TWO buns in the oven! that’s just an expression by the way. please don’t eat those buns. They are babies,” they wrote.

A Bloomberg reporter retorted: “Denny's Diner are you guys ok?”

The image shows a heavily pregnant Beyoncé kneeling in front of a massive multi-coloured bed of flowers. She is covered by a long green veil and wearing light blue satin knickers and a maroon bra.

Beyoncé revealed she was pregnant with her first daughter Blue Ivy at the MTV music awards in 2011. Her appearance helped that year's awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, attracting 12.4 million viewers. What's more, the announcement was listed in the Guinness World Records for ”most tweets per second recorded for a single event“ on Twitter. It received a staggering 8,868 tweets per second.

A representative for Beyoncé did not immediately respond to request for comment.