Winnipeg police are thanking St. James residents for their patience after a standoff shut down a block of Overdale Street for nearly 12 hours Monday.
The situation ended as police had hoped – with no injuries to anyone involved.
Const. Rob Carver called the end result an ‘ideal scenario’ Tuesday.
Carver told 680 CJOB that the call that came in Monday morning was initially family-related, although it later became clear that the person barricaded in the house was threatening self-harm.
Nearby residents were evacuated due to concerns that the man might be a danger to others as well as himself.
“People in the neighbourhood had heard he was going to blow up the house,” said Carver.
“When we get that kind of information, we have to err on the side of caution, and that means we had to start evacuating people near it, telling other people to shelter in place and then starting to shut down the block.
“For us to do that takes an enormous amount of police resources. It’s a city block… and once we start, we can’t easily back out.”
Police remained on-scene until nearly 11 p.m. – entering the home forcefully after 10 p.m. and arresting the man who’d barricaded himself inside. Some Overdale Street residents had been away from their homes for up to 10 hours.
“We understand what an absolutely invasive and disruptive effect that has on people’s lives,” said Carver.
“I think we did a good job yesterday in trying to explain to the people who are residents on that block what’s happening, trying to keep them informed, and really asking regularly for them to just be patient, that what we want is for everyone to be safe.”
Some area residents, he said, even brought officers coffee from a nearby Tim Hortons to keep them going during the lengthy standoff.
“We really appreciate that. We had guys out there, myself included, who were stuck out there for 11 hours in the rain, and that really means a lot.”
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