Heavily armed Kelowna police officers were on the scene for hours at Gordon Drive and KLO Road, Nov. 25, 2021, before arresting a male suspect.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Troy Ellens
November 25, 2021 – 10:07 AM
Police officers used flash bangs and smoke bombs at a home and remained on scene for hours before arresting a man last night, according to a witness.
Troy Ellens of Kelowna said he was driving home from work when he noticed the heavy police presence last night, Nov 24, at the intersection of Gordon Drive and KLO Road.
“I stood there from about quarter after 5 to 8:30 last night…. While I was there, they used flash bangs on the house, they broke the windows, they threw smoke bombs in the windows to try and get the guy to come out, that didn’t work. They had the little police robot thing… they had that go up to the house, and then they smashed into the garage door,” Ellens said.
Police officers entered the garage before coming back out. He heard officers telling the person to come out.
“They had guns drawn… they had the pry bars out, they had the dogs out, they had a tactical team everywhere,” he said, adding the tactical team appeared to be set up in a house next door.
Kelowna RCMP and Southeast District Critical Incident Program resolved the ongoing police incident on Gordon Drive peacefully at roughly 9:40 pm, according to an RCMP news release issued last night.
One man was approved by RCMP. The investigation is ongoing and criminal charges may be pending, RCMP said.
The critical incident team is comprised of a Critical Incident Commander, the Crisis Negotiation Team, Containment Team and the Emergency Response Team trained to manage high risk critical incidents, according to the RCMP.
The team is activated when circumstances require specialized support in responding to situations outside the level of expertise or resources from frontline officers and where there may be a significant safety risk to the public, police officers, or the subjects of the complaint and incidents range from weapons complaints, barricaded persons, hostage situations to active threats.
The RCMP asks the public and media to refrain from posting photos of officers on scene until after the incident has finished as it could compromise their safety.
“Last night’s incident at a residence on Gordon Drive in Kelowna, was an isolated event. Homes near-by were evacuated as a precaution and for safety purposes. Once the subject involved was approved and it was safe to do so, all residents were permitted back in their homes. The investigation into this incident is on-going,” according to Cpl. Tammy Lobb, spokesperson for the Kelowna detachment.
– This story was updated Nov. 25, 2021 at 12:25 pm to provide more information from the Kelowna RCMP.
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