The arrest made after the man “barricaded” in the East Block of Parliament Hill, says the police
Ottawa police say that a man was arrested after a block of hours on Parliament Hill.
“The barricadic man at the East Block call ended without accidents. A man is in custody,” said Ottawa’s police in a Social media posts Just before 23:00 et on Saturday. The post also said that the criminal investigation is in progress and an update will be provided in the morning.
There was no immediate word on charges.
Previously at 19:30 et, Insp. Mark Bouwmeester told journalists that “the circumstances of this accident are considered suspicious”, but provided some details on what was happening inside. Investigators say that the man obtained unauthorized access to East Block on Saturday afternoon.
“We are currently in contact with the individual and our priority is to resolve this situation peacefully,” he said at the moment. “At this moment there are no known injuries and we believe that man is the only person inside the building.”
The police would not have said if it was believed that the man was armed or if he had threatened.
The Ottawa police introduced specialized units, including at least one canine unit and explosive units. Two robots of the bomb disposal unit were observed in front of the central block.
The police initially released a warning on Saturday afternoon telling anyone in East Block, which hosts parliamentary offices, to look for refuge in the nearest room, close and block all the doors and hide.
People were therefore evacuated from the building, since the police temporarily closed a significant stretch of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill – blocking traffic and pedestrians.
Hours after the start of the blockade, the police extended the area of exclusion from Wellington Street to an isolated return to Sparks Street.
A government web page states that the East block houses the offices of the senators and their staff, but there is little activity on the hill because Parliament is dissolved for the current federal elections.
The same web page says that the building once held the offices of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier “and which still contains” faithful recreations from the offices of its famous occupants of the 19th century “.
