At the end of the nine-hour standoff in Courtenay over the weekend, the suspect was injured while being arrested, according to RCMP.
The BC RCMP has notified the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO) to investigate police actions in the arrest.
Comox Valley RCMP was called to the home on Morello Place at 1:42 p.m. on April 7 for a man causing a disturbance.
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When officers arrived at the home and told the man he was under arrest, he reportedly produced a weapon and barricaded himself inside.
The Island District Emergency Response Team also responded to the incident at this point.
The man was then arrested at 10:47 p.m., and RCMP says he suffered injuries during his arrest. RCMP do not say how they finally ended the barricade in Courtenay, or how the suspect was injured.
“As the matter is now under investigation by the IIO BC, no further information will be released by police,” RCMP says in a release.
The IIO says the injury was serious but not life-threatening and he was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Comox Valley RCMP is investigating the initial complaint. The IIO is investigating what happened during the incident and whether police action or inaction was necessary, reasonable and proportionate.
The day after the incident, CHEK News spoke with some neighbours who said the man who was arrested has caused a number of disturbances.
“Always screaming and saying ‘gonna kill the pigs and kill the people on Morello,” said one neighbour who did not want to be identified.
The neighbour says the suspect had thrown firecrackers and jumped in front of cars. Police had attended the home prior, according to the neighbour.
The neighbour told CHEK News police used a K-9 unit, a drone and multiple cans of tear gas to get the man to surrender.
-With files from CHEK’s Oli Herrera
Laura Brougham
