Hours-long police standoff in Victoria ends with one man in custody

VICTORIA – A man is in hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and a mental health assessment following an hours-long standoff with police in Victoria.

Officers were called to an apartment in the 2500-block of Quadra Street Tuesday afternoon for a man in a mental health crisis who was said to be at risk of becoming violent.

Police say the man refused to speak with them, and barricaded himself inside the unit.

After attempting to negotiate with the man for several hours, members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team used a loud distraction device and irritant gas to gain entry to the unit, but say the man came at the officers with improvised weapons.

Police used rubber bullets to subdue the man and eventually take him into custody about five and a half hours after first being called to the apartment.

The case remains under investigation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2022.