A considerable police response along a central Nanaimo street Tuesday afternoon came about after a man barricaded himself inside a home with weapons. (submitted photo)

By NanaimoNewsNOW

police response

ERT handles high-risk Nanaimo incident, weapons seized

Sep 18, 2024 | 4:08 PM

NANAIMO — Local police and specialized Emergency Response Team members combined to diffuse a dangerous situation in a central Nanaimo neighbourhood.

Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said local Mounties did a wellness check around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at a home off Meredith Rd.

“They were met with a very confrontational individual, who ran back into his home, indicated he had a machete, several knives and they also heard what they believed to be a TASER being activated, a conducted energy weapon,” O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW.

An officer spotted the man through a window who was in fact armed with a machete, O’Brien said.

Police then backed away, cordoned off the area as officers were now dealing with a barricaded, armed individual.

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The RCMP’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) unit was called.

As the specialized unit arrived, O’Brien said the situation was peacefully resolved.

“He came out of the home and with minimal resistance was apprehended under the Mental Health Act, at which point he was transported to hospital for a psychiatric assessment.”

There was no indication anybody else was in the home at the time, O’Brien said.

No charges are pending against the man, who’s in his 30’s, with O’Brien noting the case is not a criminal file, but rather strictly a mental health issue.

Several weapons were found in the home, which were destroyed, O’Brien said, while illicit street drugs were also located.

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