A standoff with Prince George police this week led to the removal of 19 people from a familiar home.
According to RCMP, all suspects eventually surrendered incident-free out of 1600-block 11 Avenue residence well-known to them after local Mounties, the North District Emergency Response Team (ERT) and a Dog Services unit responded to an abandoned 911 call from Wednesday (Jan. 6) at 12:19 p.m.
Spokesperson Cst. Jennifer Cooper explains the initial call involved a possible robbery attempt with a firearm.
Once the suspects were taken outside, many items were found inside the house, including a handgun and box of ammunition in plain sight.
A search warrant was later obtained, leading to the discovery and seizure of two loaded and prohibited firearms, two imitation firearms, illegal body armour, several more boxes of ammunition, scales, a small amount of drugs, cash, various edged weapons and some stolen property.
Cst. Cooper says, however, none of the 19 people have been formally arrested as an investigation continues.
“Police did not make any arrests at this time, pending results from lab analysis on the drugs and firearms located. This is typical of an investigation of this nature," she explained in a news release this afternoon (Jan. 7).
"Police in Prince George are familiar with this residence, as it was already the subject of a recent CDSA search warrant executed by Prince George RCMP’s Downtown Safety Unit."
Cooper adds frontline members had already been conducting a concurrent Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) warrant was issued on Dec. 3.
That day, 15 people were arrested and later released after police seized 38 grams of fentanyl, 23 grams of crack cocaine and a small amount of meth at the same residence, along with a stolen loaded Winchester 94 rifle and a sawed-off 22 caliber rifle.
"Finding that many people in a residence known to sell illicit drugs is not uncommon," Cooper told PrinceGeorgeMatters last month.
"Of those people, some would be there selling the drugs, some would have been there to buy the drugs and some likely would have stayed there while using the drugs."
At the time of Wednesday's unfolding incident, she said many people had surrendered from the residence, but that more were still inside as officers were trying to come to a peaceful resolution, calling it a 'dynamic' situation.
The intersection of 11 Avenue and Vancouver Street, located near Parkwood Place, was courted off for several hours.
The public was asked to avoid the intersection while emergency crews were tending to the situation, though no danger or threat was indicated by RCMP.
Anyone with more information about this incident is strongly encouraged to call Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300, anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go online to www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca.
- with files from Hanna Petersen, PrinceGeorgeMatters
Police incident underway at 11th and Vancouver. It’s described as a ‘dynamic situation’ and the public is asked to avoid the area #cityofpg pic.twitter.com/px7KURfFgq
— Hanna Petersen (@hannaepeter) January 6, 2021
