CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A standoff Friday that saw armed police officers training their guns on a building on a busy Charlottetown street ended with a 43-year-old man taken into custody and no one injured.
Speaking to reporters about three hours after the standoff began, Charlottetown police Deputy Chief Brad MacConnell said it was fortunate the situation came to the conclusion that it did.
“To the residents there, there’s a certain peace of mind that’s lost when you have an incident like this and we want to reassure them that it was isolated and we dealt with it,” he said.
MacConnell said officers responded to a call at 9:57 a.m., about a man who was brandishing what appeared to be a handgun and a long-edged weapon that was described as a sword.
The rapid tactical deployment unit responded because of the nature of the call.
When the police arrived, the suspect went into his apartment in a building on Upper Hillsborough Street, MacConnell said, adding the police soon determined he was the lone occupant.
“At that time, he was considered armed and barricaded.”
MacConnell said the man communicated with officers and a crisis negotiation team was called in, along with a containment team.
“That was done very quickly,” he said.
Some of the first officers to arrive could be seen behind a police cruiser stopped in the middle of the street at an angle as they crouched or stood with rifles aimed at the building.
Early on, other officers worked to keep pedestrians and motorists who were trying to use the street away before barricades were brought in to block the nearby intersections.
MacConnell said the apartment building was also evacuated.
As the standoff continued, a dark-grey tactical support unit vehicle moved into position in front of the building and heavily armed officers could be seen moving through the area for several hours.
That included officers wearing helmets and at least one carrying a police shield.
MacConnell said the man exited the apartment after several hours of negotiation and officers took him into custody after using what MacConnell called a distraction device known as a flash bang.
The booming sound of the flash bang could be heard outside the building where several officers positioned nearby reacted taking cover behind a police car and aiming their guns at the building.
Soon after, officers at the scene began to leave and the street re-opened.
With the suspect in custody, MacConnell said the police will be assessing what charges will be applicable and planned to check the residence to ensure there were no other weapons inside that could be dangerous to the public.
The police would not identify the man involved in the standoff.
Allen Ganaway lives in the area and was outside a few hours after the standoff ended when he spoke to The Guardian and said it was unusual to see such a response from the police.
He also said it didn’t change his opinion of where he lived.
“This neighbourhood, bottom line, the last three years (is) not a good neighbourhood,” he said.
