Kudos to the local RCMP. While it happened over a week ago, I think the Jan. 4 incident on Main Street Bonnyville deserves to be revisited. It was in the early afternoon hours of Jan. 4 when local police were called to a residence on 51a Street. They had received a call from an individual who was concerned for her own safety. According to the caller her boyfriend had consumed high quantities of drugs and alcohol over the past few days and had a history of problems regarding his mental stability.
Kudos to the local RCMP.
While it happened over a week ago, I think the Jan. 4 incident on Main Street Bonnyville deserves to be revisited.
It was in the early afternoon hours of Jan. 4 when local police were called to a residence on 51a Street. They had received a call from an individual who was concerned for her own safety. According to the caller her boyfriend had consumed high quantities of drugs and alcohol over the past few days and had a history of problems regarding his mental stability.
After arriving at the residence and performing a "usual risk assessment" the RCMP went into lockdown mode. Reinforcements were called in from Cold Lake and St. Paul, which included the Emergency Response Team, PDS Canine Unit and EDU bomb squad.
Police also proceeded to shut down parts of Main Street and urged residents in the area to stay inside their homes while the incident was taking place.
Following nearly 10-hours of negotiations, local police were able to arrest the individual without incident.
"I'm very, very happy that the subject in this case was apprehended without any major injuries sustained," said Bonnyville Staff Sgt. Louis Gandolfi in the early morning hours of Jan. 5.
"Our officers dealt with this situation very well under some nasty circumstances. They had to be outside for lengthy periods of time in very harsh weather conditions. I'm very proud of their efforts and I'm happy everything ended as they did considering the circumstances."
I think I speak for everyone in Bonnyville when I say that I am also proud and thankful for the efforts of the local RCMP on that day.
While the exact details on what made the situation so risky are unclear, I believe the police were extremely professional in the way they handled the event.
Recent history has shown that one individual with mental instability can cause a lot of havoc if not handled properly.
It was just last year that a crazed individual shot up downtown St. Paul resulting in the death of a local priest and wounding three RCMP members.
A month later I remember following the horrific events in Moncton, New Brunswick in which a mentally unstable man murdered three Mounties and put an entire community on edge.
While it is likely neither of these events could have been prevented, they served as examples of the type of destruction one man can create.
With that in mind, I think it was great to see the local RCMP take the situation so seriously and enforce every protocol possible to ensure the incident didn't get out of hand.
It definitely couldn't have been easy for those 20 or so officers to work nearly 10 hours in -30 degree weather, all to ensure the town's safety.
It's not too often these days that you hear of situations like this, in which a man is in a standoff with police, ending as peacefully as this did.
I believe that had to do with the extraordinary efforts of our local RCMP and for that I thank them.
