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
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Manitoba mom praises quick-thinking fire department for freeing daughter stuck in playground equipment
A Manitoba mother is praising firefighters for their quick work in helping her daughter who got stuck at a playground in Lorette, Man.