Stun grenade used during dramatic arrest of suspect with replica firearm in Vancouver

Vancouver -

Police used a stun grenade to take a suspect into custody during a dramatic incident that unfolded on a busy Vancouver street Friday morning.

A Vancouver Police Department spokesperson said the officers involved were responding to reports of a man holding "what appeared to be a rifle" at Main Street and East 1st Avenue around 9:30 a.m.

The officers deployed a flash bang as a distraction technique before arresting the suspect, Const. Tania Visintin said.

"There were no injuries, thankfully, to him or anyone passing by," Visintin told reporters hours after the incident.

Authorities determined the suspect had been carrying an airsoft rifle, a non-lethal replica firearm that shoots plastic projectiles. Witnesses told CTV News they were startled by the sight of him standing on a street corner before police arrived.

"We were worried the whole time, we weren't sure what he would do," said Dr. Ryan Leo, medical director at the yYoung Medical Clinic on Main Street.

"We had some patients coming in, so we were in the back calling them to not come in."

Visintin said the man was arrested for mischief, but has yet to be charged.

A VPD officer shared on social media that the man may have been waiting for a ride to go to an airsoft park.

“That is what he said to officers on scene, but there is no way to know that was his actual intention,” Visintin said in an email.

The use of the stun grenade also shocked witnesses who were walking through the area at the time, including one woman who said it sounded like "a big bomb" going off in the neighbourhood.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Angela Jung