Armed and dangerous: RCMP continue search near Kootenay town
SLOCAN CITY, B.C. – The man at the centre of an RCMP manhunt in this small B.C. community is being described by his neighbours as someone who loves his animals but has a strong dislike of authority.
Peter DeGroot, 45, has been identified by police as their suspect and as someone who is armed and dangerous.
Police say that when they investigated a dispute between two people, a man, armed with a rifle, shot at police. He then fled into the woods when police returned fire.
"I heard a pop, pop, pop," said Patty Burge who was watching TV two doors down.
"I got up to look out the window and there was a lot of RCMP on the street. I opened the door and the officer told me to get back into the house."
Patty and her husband Jim have lived two doors away on the same street as DeGroot for about a year.
They say he has been living in his van for the past year on the lot that has a small barn on it. His animals include cows, pigs and 25 chickens.
"We had no trouble with him. He was soft-spoken and quiet but he had military experience and something happened there, I think," said Patty.
"He loves his animals more than life itself. He was being evicted by the owner's son-in-law and this is what started the altercation," she added.
She said DeGroot had fallen on hard times over the past year and was having problems feeding his animals.
"We never had any problem with him. He just wanted to live in peace by himself and with his animals. They're his whole family," she said.
As an RCMP helicopter flew over Jim Burge said police will have a difficult time finding DeGroot and an even harder time getting him to give up.
"I think he would be a difficult man to find," he said.
"I think he's dangerous now because he knows what he has done already. He knows they're out to get him I don't think be believes they would take him quietly," Jim said.
"I don't think he would surrender."
The village of 300 is a heavily treed hodgepodge of cabins, mobile homes and ramshackle houses. The streets are wide and the occasional individual could be seen walking down the streets.
The police presence was still heavy on Saturday. RCMP officers guard the entrances to the town, asking people leaving to pop their trunks on the off chance that the missing suspect was hiding inside.
At the RCMP command post, located in the Village of Slocan office, a number of officers wearing camouflage were preparing for another day of searching the woods surrounding the community.
The officer in charge said most residents will be allowed in – except for those living near where the incident took place.
"It's kind of a low key kind of thing. We still have checkpoints in place to check people coming in and out but people are going to be allowed to come into their homes as of today," said Staff Sgt. Don Smawley.
"There is limited access. We are urging the public to be cautious and limit their outdoor activities if they can."
Smawley said the search will continue using officers, helicopters and search dogs.
But he acknowledges it's a tough area to search.
"It's a very vast area. It's remote. It's rugged. Lots of places for an individual to hide if they want to. Right now, the search continues."
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8 responses
there is a growing dislike and distrust of not just police but government in general…and for good reason. here is a man who’s story is not being told…I read in the article that he had previous military experience…was he a vet battleing ptsd abandoned by government? he wouldn’t be the first. talk about hunting season….that’s all these mindless terminators see is someone to hunt down and shoot at the first chance they get…that’s what happened to the poor vet in PG who was suffering from serious PTSD.
hey Bill Graveland, are you so afflicted with tunnel vision that you are not able to see the forest for the trees. You see a home in disrepair , and you paint the entire town with that brush! You should be ashamed to call yourself a journalist. If you are not a journalist, then I take back my critic of your limited abilities. If you are, well give your head a shake and take this as a constructive critic to raise your awareness while learning your craft.
It is a Kamloops news paper and I don’t think they were even there considering the description of the town. LOL Starting with the heavily treed? They might be talking about the mountains that surround Slocan city. I drive down those streets and don’t find them too wide I think they are just wide enoughLOL.
Just for the record….we don’t live in “ramshackle houses” and even if the homes are not up to citystandards, folks do the best they can.It’s an insult and deserves an apology!
To Bill Graveland, you have insulted our beautiful little village. Drive up on the road above town and take another look. It is beautiful this time of year, and yes there are some run down houses in every town but what you have implied is insulting…..
The village of 300 is a heavily treed hodgepodge of cabins, mobile homes and ramshackle houses. The streets are wide and the occasional individual could be seen walking down the streets.That is to quote what you wrote…. No one is walking down the streets because they were told to stay indoors.As for your description of what Slocan looks like, I find it disrespectful and lies.Your description makes Slocan sound like some town out of the Deliverance!Yes there are some properties in the town that could use a fresh coat of paint or vacant lots that need mowing but it is a very pretty community where the majority of folks take pride in their homes and land.Residents of Slocan need not to apologize that Slocan doesn’t look like some hoity toity cookie cutter subdivision in some bigger city.Your comments are insulting and not news worthy.
Seriously?was the person who wrote this article even in Slocan?”The village of 300 is a heavily treed hodgepodge of cabins, mobile homes and ramshackle houses. The streets are wide and the occasional individual could be seen walking down the streets”This is my hometown and yes there may be some cabins, run down properties and a few mobile homes but there are a lot of beautiful properties and the town is right on the lake, couldn’t be a more beautiful place! SERIOUSLY!My parents live there and I am horrified that you would call there place and many of the other beautiful, well keep homes and yards ahodgepodge of cabins and ramshackle houses, and seriously, what’s wrong with living in a mobile home? You are talking actions of one individual and judging a whole town by that, seriously some horrible reporting on the situation, try to publish truthful facts from now on please!
That’s a terrible description of Slocan.It’s a beautiful community on Slocan Lake.There might be some rundown places, but those are found in every community, town and city.I think your paper needs to apologize the the citizens of Slocan.