A gangster with a gun and a battle axe, walking in a group through the VLA, found himself surrounded by Mounties with their own weapons at the ready.
The Prince George RCMP got calls from the public at about 10:20 a.m. Monday. They described the gun-toting trio in the vicinity of 20th Avenue and Pine Street and, said spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass, "we got to the scene within a minute and in maybe two minutes we had a perimeter set up."
One of the three suspects was instantly recognized by police as "someone who would not hesitate to use a weapon" in an arrest situation so they moved with decisiveness to halt their morning walk. The suspect with the gun had it brandished across his chest as he walked.
His other gear was not in clear view but was discovered by police during the search of the three suspects. It was a double-bitted crescent-blade replica battle axe that was nonetheless perfectly useable as a weapon. "It was very sharp, and a sharpening stone was found as well."
As opposed to the gun, which turned out to be much more bark than it had bite. It looked like an assault firearm worthy of G.I. Joe but turned out to be a paintball popgun.
"When the public saw this item, and when we saw this item, there was no way for the viewing eye to know this was not a fully functional weapon," said Douglass, "and considering who was at the centre of all this, we acted in a precautionary manner with what we term a 'high-risk takedown' to minimize highly unpredictable situations where a firearm or some other threat is known to exist."
The suspect with the paintball gun was a 33-year-old local man "who is well known to us and is associated to organized crime," Douglass said. He also had two pocket knives in his possession.
The other two were not a focus of this operation, said Douglass.
No charges are being contemplated. The axe was seized as a weapon potentially dangerous to the public, but all other items were returned to their owners. Douglass said a thank-you to the public callers who notified them of the situation. It is possible, he said, that a crime was in the planning stages and was averted thanks to the phone calls of concern.
