Police incident resolved peacefully

RCMP say they were able to resolve a five-hour standoff with a man peacefully on Wednesday night in Kelowna.

The Southeast District Critical Incident Program provided assistance to bring the incident on Gordon Drive to an end.

“At approximately 9:40 p.m., one man was apprehended by the Kelowna RCMP. The investigation is on-going and criminal charges may be pending,” said Cpl. Tammy Lobb, media relations officer.

At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, RCMP responded to a report of an incident at a residence in the 3000 block of Gordon Drive near KLO. Some homes in the area were evacuated and others were asked to shelter in place for public safety.

Site of police standoff on Gordon Drive in Kelowna Wednesday night (Photo credit: Kelowna10)

The investigation into the matter is ongoing.

The critical incident program that was used in this incident is made up of an critical incident commander, a crisis negotiation team, containment team and the emergency response team trained to manage high risk critical incidents.

“The SED-CIP is activated throughout the district, including the City of Kelowna when the circumstances require specialized support in responding to situations outside the level of expertise or resources from frontline and where there may be a significant safety risk to the public, police officers, or the subjects of the complaint.  High-risk situations are diverse in nature from weapons complaints, barricaded persons, hostage situations to active threats,” Cpl. Lobb explained.

Lobb said de-escalation and safety of the public and police drive the decision making of the CIP to resolve situations.

“This includes a number of techniques and tools the SED-CIP utilizes in an attempt to resolve critical incidents peacefully.  It is requested the media and public refrain from posting photos of our officers on scene during on-going incidents. We ask this because publishing and posting photos of officers’ locations and the techniques they are using may compromise their safety and the objective to resolve the situation and potentially placing lives at risk,” said the media relations officer.

Lobb added the RCMP promptly notifies the media after an incident has concluded, at which time the RCMP welcomes any photos or video to be published.