Heavy police presence in a Bear Mountain neighbourhood

West Shore RCMP closed off a neighbourhood in Bear Mountain on Tuesday evening to respond to a mental health crisis.

In a social media post at 8 p.m., Mounties said there was a “heavy police presence” at the 1100-block of Timber View in Langford, and residents were being asked to stay inside their homes to give police space to work.

Witnesses on Facebook were reporting seeing numerous police vehicles, including a SWAT truck, and some did report officers with guns drawn.

In an update around 9:40 p.m. Thursday, police said the situation had been cleared.

Along with frontline officers, the Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Team (MICR) also responded to the scene, according to RCMP in a release Wednesday morning.

“The individual was not cooperative with initial responding officers and MICR team prompting a larger police response. Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team and Crisis Negotiators responded,” Mounties said.

They added that the area was contained by police for public safety.

“Crisis Negotiators negotiated with the individual for several hours who was eventually safely appended under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital for ongoing care,” reads the release.

“We appreciate the public’s cooperation in staying away from the area while police worked. We also thank the surrounding neighbours for their patience who were asked to stay inside their home.”

RCMP cleared the scene at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Editorial Policies Report an Error