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Lengthy standoff at Kamloops restaurant ends with arrest

Aug 2, 2018 | 1:23 PM

KAMLOOPS —The police incident at a downtown Kamloops Denny’s is over as the man who barricaded himself inside is now in police custody.

The standoff started at 4 a.m. on Thursday when police said the man made a threat after receiving his bill. Staff and customers quickly evacuated, leaving the man alone in the restaurant.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says the 29-year-old man was previously known to police and is from Kamloops.

Local Mounties, with assistance from the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team, were on site trying to coax the man to surrender until well into the afternoon.

“The suspect had closed the blinds to all of the windows and only exited the building once,” Shelkie said. “He was brandishing a knife and when he saw police officers, he went back inside the restaurant.”

She said the arrest was made at 2:45 p.m. when members of the ERT entered the restaurant and arrested the man. He was then taken into custody by police.

Shelkie called the arrest “a successful outcome.”

“We always strive for an outcome where nobody is injured. It was textbook in the steps that we took to secure the neighbourhood, to secure the rest, to make sure everybody was as safe as we could including the suspect himself and our officers on scene.”

The streets around the restaurant were blocked off during the standoff and remained that way on Thursday afternoon as police cleared the area.