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VIDEO: 4-hour response to barricaded Victoria man ends with him taken to hospital

Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team joined VicPD for Quadra Street incident

A man police said had barricaded himself in an apartment suite in a building in the 2500-block of Quadra Street was transported to hospital around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday (June 7), ending a more than four-hour standoff with police.

The initial report to said a man was in a mental health crisis and “was reported to be at risk of becoming violent,” Victoria police said in a Tuesday night update.

Officers atop an armoured vehicle broke a first-floor window after 6 p.m. and sprayed what appeared to be tear gas into an apartment. The move was followed by various other tactics over the next hour or so to try and convince the man to come out.

Police said that after several hours, the man “encountered officers with improvised weapons.” Police shot a “less-lethal” plastic projectile round at the man, but he still didn’t surrender.

Officers on the armoured vehicle sprayed the man and threw an apparent stun grenade device into his apartment.

Just after 7 p.m., the barricade situation ended and the man was arrested while he physically resisted, police said. He was then taken to hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries and a mental health assessment.

Negotiations had been ongoing since roughly 3 p.m. Tuesday, with Victoria police and Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team members on scene attempting to resolve the situation.

As of 4:30 p.m., a GVERT crisis negotiator could be heard speaking loudly from the rear of the building, communicating with someone inside, and a number of officers were standing by, without weapons drawn.

Police deployed what sounded like a stun grenade device around 5 p.m.Afterward, negotiators could be heard continuing to talk with someone inside the building, and a drone was seen flying nearby.

Early in the police response, the incident was not affecting traffic along Quadra Street, as some of the five police vehicles on scene were parked in the centre turning lane. The Victoria Police Department tweeted just after 3 p.m. Tuesday that they had responded to a call for assistance.

Police tape surrounded the building throughout the response, keeping passersby at a distance from the ongoing operation.

READ MORE: Suspect’s identity sought after Victoria bank defrauded $20,000


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