http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepag...The+Daily+Press
By Diana Oddi and Ted Rath
Local News - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 @ 07:00
A dramatic standoff outside a Fifth Avenue home Tuesday which blockaded a downtown neighbourhood for most of the afternoon ended peacefully and without police laying any charges.
Just before noon, police in black emergency gear and brandishing shotguns descended on the home near the corner of Cedar Street North after they received a call claiming a man was seen walking across the street with a rifle in his hands.
Authorities blocked access to the surrounding neighbourhood as the emergency response team set up around the white-sided house at 190 Fifth Ave.
Several police officers took cover behind snow banks, bushes, garbage bins and vehicles parked on the side of the road.
Every 20 to 30 minutes, police inched closer to the house.
At approximately 1:45 p.m. an ambulance was called to the scene however, police said it had no relation to the incident.
Police continued to monitor the area before negotiator Robert Boisvert arrived on the scene at 3:15 p.m.
Boisvert stood behind the emergency response team van and asked the man inside to co-operate with them.
“Can you hear me? Can you come to the window?” Boisvert said into a megaphone. “Can you move the curtain so we know you are listening? You didn’t do anything wrong. We just want to talk to you. We are not going to hurt you. We are not going to hurt anyone.”
With no response from the man inside, at 4 p.m. police decided to make their move.
Seven armed emergency response team members entered the front door of the home.
Bystanders and neighbours at the edge of the blockade on Balsam gathered closer to the police vehicle, which blocked Fifth, hoping to get a look at the man they thought police would arrest.
After 11 minutes, police exited the home and departed from the scene with no arrests.
In a release issued Tuesday afternoon, police said the man had not broken any laws.
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