BEISEKER — An eight-hour armed standoff with police has ended after the gunman gave up to RCMP.
RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said the 39-year-old walked into his estranged wife’s home in Beiseker early Wednesday morning.
Pointing a firearm, he awoke her 18-year-old daughter and the couple’s seven-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.
The woman was able to flee and phone police right away.
The 18-year-old escaped before the man let the other children go about 8 a.m.
Negotiators with the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team talked with the man via telephone while Mounties surrounded the home until about 1 p.m., when the suspect gave himself up.
“He had been talking long and hard with negotiators and decided to come out,” said Webb.
“This is the best possible resolution.”
After arresting the suspect, police were seen removing several high-powered rifles from the home.
Webb said no shots were fired but the children were under extreme risk.
“I don’t have explicit details on exactly what threats were but suffice to say if someone shows up at 5 a.m. with a firearm and makes comments there’s a threat level,” he said.
“It has been an extremely long day for them — they are doing as well as can be expected, especially being woken from a sound sleep to this kind of incident.”
He said it’s still unknown what prompted the incident.
“Definitely the job of investigators is to look at what has happened and why it happened,” he said.
While some nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution, others such as Gail Peckham were told to stay in their homes away from windows.
“We were all a little curious as to what was going on,” she said.
The suspect, who has not yet been charged, is known to police, Webb said.