Crisis negotiators helped end a four hour long standoff between police and a man barricaded inside a Cedar Rd. home on Sunday. (Nanaimo RCMP)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

mental health situation

Multiple guns, ammo seized after extended police standoff at Cedar home

Feb 26, 2024 | 11:22 AM

NANAIMO — An extended standoff between police and a man barricaded inside a home ended safely.

Local Mounties, members of the RCMP Emergency Response Team, and crisis negotiators were called to a residence in the 1700 block of Nairne Rd., off McMillan Rd. around 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.

Reserve Cst. Gary O’Brien said an adult man was experiencing a mental health crisis and had barricaded himself inside a home with others inside.

“There’s two other family members in the house and they had concern for their safety and his, and the fact there were firearms in the house. The other two managed to leave the house safely then we started with negotiating with this person who refused to leave.,” O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW.

The two people inside the house were the ones who called 911 and alerted police to the situation.

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A roughly four hour stand-off ensued with crisis negotiators talking with the man.

O’Brien estimated almost 30 RCMP members were on scene during the standoff.

“We evacuated houses around him, we eliminated any traffic going by as a distraction and thankfully after four hours he decided to come out. He was apprehended under the Mental Health Act, taken to the hospital to receive much needed psychiatric assessment.”

Once inside the home, officers discovered and seized seven long guns and an undetermined amount of ammunition.

O’Brien added no criminal charges are pending however it’s expected the guns will be destroyed and the man will be prohibited from owning or possessing firearms in the future.

“At the end of the day, there was no intent to commit a crime,” O’Brien said on no charges being laid. “The person was having a breakdown, they were in a mental health crisis so we take that under consideration. They’re not arrested, they’re apprehended under the Mental Health Act.”

Multiple reports from across Vancouver Island on Sunday noted an increased police presence heading to the Cedar area, with vehicles seen travelling both northbound and southbound on Island highways.

Nairne Rd. in rural Cedar saw an extended police presence on Sunday, Feb. 25 with a man experiencing a mental health crisis. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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