Hours-long standoff ends in arrest at Richmond townhouse
Tadz Palys was studying in his Richmond, B.C., home when he noticed police cars outside.
“My in-laws had my daughter across the street so I went over to go see her,” he told CTV News. But it then took an hour and a half for him to get back.
“Police escorted us back over here,” he said.
That’s because Mounties had created a large perimeter around his town house complex.
Just after 12 p.m. two bailiffs had gone to a home at Norton Court to enforce a Supreme Court order to remove a man. But when the two bailiffs entered the property, the man allegedly pointed a firearm at them.
Not long after, the bailiffs allege the man went out onto his second storey balcony and fired his gun into the air multiple times.
Richmond RCMP were called, along with the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team. Mounties quickly shut down the area on Westminster Highway between Gilley Road and McLean Avenue.
“Police escorted us back over here,” Palys said, adding he was told to stay away from windows and doors.
He listened as officers tried to negotiate with the man barricaded inside his home.
“They were just trying to convince him to come to the patio and put where they can see his hands,” he said. “It sounded like he was trying to make some sort of demands.”
In surveillance video from one of the houses right next door, ERT members could be seen moving through yards, heavily armed, getting into position.
After hours of talking, neighbours heard a loud bang.
“We just heard loud bangs, my daughter was asking me ‘what was that daddy?’” Palys said. “I just grabbed my daughter and ran into the stairwell.”
Patrick Santos, another neighbour, said it sounded like a flash bang.
“I think it was the police trying to make him go out I guess, a flash bang,” he said.
“It was a loud explosion it was like a transformer that blew. It was that loud.”
Surveillance video from a neighbour's home shows, at about 3:45 p.m., the man walking out of his home, with his hands in the air.
“He walked out slowly, he knelt down and he lay flat on the floor. And that’s when they picked him up and took him away,” said Santos.
Police said in a news release the man was safely taken into custody without incident.
Neighbours told CTV News they’d seen police at his house before.
“If there’s any sort of disturbance it’s always in that area in front of his house,” said Santos. “I don’t know him that well, only that he reacts unpredictably.”
No one was injured and Richmond RCMP are still investigating.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.