A six-hour stand-off with heavily armed police was sparked by an alleged assault on a 28-year-old woman in residential Richmond.
Shortly after 8 p.m. on Monday, Richmond Mounties responded to the area just south-east of Cambie and Shell roads, where the woman reported she had been assaulted by a male suspect and fled to a house in the vicinity.
The suspect was quickly tracked to a house in the 11000 block of Cambie Road, just a few hundred yards east of its intersection with Shell Road.
A full contingent of Richmond RCMP officers surrounded the house, with police acting on information that the suspect had a rifle in his possession and was making threats against the victim and other members of her family.
Multiple attempts by police to have the suspect surrender peacefully were unsuccessful and tactical officers from the Emergency Response Team (ERT) were deployed.
A video of the incident appeared to show two, young females, of Chinese ethnicity, being escorted from the home by members of the ERT, who were armed with assault rifles.
Shortly afterwards, a police officer could be heard warning the person inside the home that the ERT had the area surrounded and advised him to come to the front of the property.
According to one witness at the scene, after six hours, at around 2 a.m., the police decided to enter the house, with several flashbangs appearing to be set off.
According to the police, ERT members located the suspect hiding in the house after “distraction devices were utilized.”
A 31-year old male was then taken into custody and police are continuing their investigating, with charges are pending. The suspect is known to police.
However, it’s not yet clear if the initial, alleged assault on the woman was targeted or random or if the pair knew each other.
It appears that no one was injured during the incident.
