One man was arrested earlier this week after a hostage situation in downtown Victoria.
On Tuesday night, VicPD officers received reports of ongoing threats and assaults against a woman in a downtown Victoria condo. It was reported to police that the woman was being held against her will.
Just before 9 p.m. officers arrived on scene and located the victim and suspect barricaded inside the condo unit.
Neighbouring units were evacuated and officers began attempting to de-escalate the situation.
According to police, officers with the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) including Crisis Negotiators, as well as officers with the Integrated Canine Service and VicPD’s Investigative Services Division were all on hand at the scene to respond to the situation.
Patrol, @ICS_K9 & #GVERT officers responded to a report that a man was holding a woman against her will in a downtown condo building Tues night. After hours of negotiation, the suspect was arrested. He remains in custody facing an assault charge. #yyj https://t.co/VpAt19qYos
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) November 10, 2022
VicPD says their crisis negotiation team worked for several hours to try to resolve the incident safely. They managed to convince the man to release the woman from captivity.
The suspect remained in the condo after he let his victim free.
According to police, just after 1 a.m., Wednesday morning, GVERT officers used a noise-making device, along with voice commands, to convince the suspect to surrender to them.
Police say he was taken into custody without incident and was not injured during the situation.
The incident remains under investigation by VicPD.
Recommended charges for the suspect are limited to assault. He appeared in court and now remains in police custody.
Anyone with information about this incident should call VicPD at (250) 995-7654.
