KAMLOOPS — The police incident at the downtown Kamloops Denny’s is over as the man who barricaded himself inside is now in police custody.
The standoff started at 4 a.m. this morning when he made a threat after receiving his bill. Staff and customers quickly evacuated, leaving the man alone.
Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says the 29 year old man was previously known to police and is from Kamloops.
The Kamloops RCMP, with assistance from the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team (ERT), had been on site trying to coax the man to surrender all day.
“The suspect had closed the blinds to all of the windows and only exited the building once,” says Shelkie. “He was brandishing a knife and when he saw police officers, he went back inside the restaurant.”
She says the arrest was made at 2:45 p.m. when members of ERT entered the restaurant and arrested the man. He was taken into custody by police.
“The area around Denny’s will be closed to motorists and pedestrians for a length of time for officers to secure the building and make sure it is safe.”
Shelkie calls the arrest “a successful outcome.”
“We always strive for an outcome where nobody is injured. It was textbook in the steps that we took to secure the neighbourhood, to secure the rest, to make sure everybody was as safe as we could including the suspect himself and our officers on scene.”
FRIDAY UPDATE:
