There has been a large police presence in and around Louise Avenue and 15th Street for the last several hours. BFES was called in for standby as well. At one point BPS could be heard trying to make contact with someone inside a house. No other details are known at this time. We will update the information with the official Brandon Police Service media release once it has been made available. Photos by Liam Pattison Photography.
At approximately 11:10 a.m., an employee of a Brandon business reported that a tenant of one of their properties came into the business office and threatened the staff. Investigators determined that the male suspect attempted to grab one employee and threatened to start another employee on fire. At approximately 3:35 p.m., Police attended the residence of the suspect in the 1500 Block of Louise Avenue in attempt to locate him and effect an arrest for Uttering Threats. As officers approached the residence, the suspect was observed holding a knife and began to threaten Police. The suspect stated he also had Molotov cocktails and a chainsaw and threatened Police with these. After some failed attempts at negotiating with the suspect to calm down and exit the residence, officers heard the man start up a chainsaw. Continued dialogue led Police to believe that the man may have been experiencing a Mental Health Crisis. Due to the volatile nature of this incident, the Emergency Response Team was activated just after 5:00 p.m. Negotiating efforts continued and at just after 1:00 a.m. the man exited the residence and was taken into Police custody. The 43-year-old man was not injured and was transported to the Brandon Regional Health Center for treatment. The man remains in hospital and Police investigation continues to determine if Criminal Charges will be laid.
