UPDATE: Threatening messages at Penticton city hall result in armed standoff | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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UPDATE: Threatening messages at Penticton city hall result in armed standoff

Threatening messages directed at city hall resulted in a short armed standoff between police and a suspect at his Skaha Lake Road residence on November 4.
Original Publication Date November 05, 2015 - 12:53 PM

PENTICTON - Threatening voicemail messages about the City of Penticton cutting off someone's power sparked an armed stand-off with RCMP and an arrest yesterday, Nov. 4.

Penticton RCMP Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth says the threats were made with reference to a resident who had recently had their electricity disconnected by the city.

He says officers paid visits to two residents who had recently had their power disconnected. At a home on South Main Street a man confronted the members, armed with two hunting knives. He went inside the home and a half hour stand-off began.

“Due to some excellent critical incident de-escalation techniques the man was taken into custody,” Wrigglesworth says.

City of Penticton spokesperson Simone Blais says city hall staff received two threatening voice mail messages from a customer shortly before noon yesterday, adding the communications were serious enough the RCMP were called.

Police maintained a presence at city hall inside and out, for a short period of time while staff monitored customer’s movements in the building, she says.

“The safety of everyone is paramount. We took the procedures out of an abundance of caution,” she says.

Wigglesworth says a 39-year-old Penticton man has undergone a psychiatric assessment and has been charged with uttering threats. He was released from custody today on a promise to appear in court Dec. 16.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

— This story was updated on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 2:16 p.m. with additional information from the Penticton RCMP.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015
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