Police deploy armoured vehicle

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This article was published 29/11/2024 (526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Police Service’s emergency response team used an Armoured Rescue Vehicle (ARV) on Wednesday evening to conduct an operation that included gaining access to a home located at 620 15th St.

Details about why the operation was conducted or if any of the persons arrested have been charged were not divulged by the police, which also used a battering ram to gain access to the house in question.

The armoured vehicle, which is usually deployed for a variety of potential crisis calls, including weapons calls or to take people out of volatile situations, pulled onto the front lawn of the house, and officers broke the front window before the suspects came out.

An email statement shared by the Brandon police with the Sun simply stated, “An increased police presence in the 600 block of 15th Street, as officers conducted an operation at a residence.”

“Currently, we are unable to disclose further details regarding the ongoing investigation,” a BPS spokesperson said later, adding: “However, we want to assure the public that there was no imminent risk to community safety during this operation.”

A neighbouring resident told the Sun she noticed flashing lights on the street outside at about 6:30 on Wednesday evening, and saw the vehicle and “all the officers” when she looked out the window.

“They kept repeating, ‘come out, come out please,’ and they did that for about an hour and a half. I think they called out two names, but I didn’t hear what they were. And after they broke the window and police went inside, the people came right out the front door,” she added, requesting not to be identified.

Another woman, who lives down the street, said she was returning home at about 7 p.m., and “there was police blocking off the nearby streets. Fifteenth was blocked off between Van Horne and McTavish. So, I had to park on a side street, and they told me to get home quick and just stay inside,” she said. The Sun agreed to also withhold her name.

“One cop went in, and eight or nine people came out,” a man, who lives on 15th Street, told the Sun. “But there were cops all around and they went at the house with a battering ram and tore part of the front of it.”

The man — whose name the Sun agreed not to publish — added that the house is known to police, that “every day they’re slowly driving past.”

A Sun staffer reached the scene at about 8:10 p.m., but additional photos were sent to the Sun by someone who lives near the house.

The photos show BPS’s canine unit entering the house along with at least six police officers outfitted in tactical gear and helmets. One appears to have a gun drawn.

At least three people can be seen leaving the house. One has their hands up in the air on the top of the front steps, another is being led away with their hands behind their back, and a third person, who appears to be a woman with long blonde hair, is being led away by an officer, with the other two suspects following behind.

On Thursday afternoon, no one answered the door of the house, when the Sun knocked. Tire tracks were visible on the front yard, with the window frame broken by police leaning against the house.

The ARV that was used to breach the home was specifically built for BPS by Terradyne Armored Vehicles. It stands about nine and a half feet tall and carries up to 10 officers and has been in Brandon since December 2019.

It cost BPS about $400,000, which was funded through the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund. It is available to respond to high-risk incidents in Brandon and surrounding communities in southwestern Manitoba.

The ARV is used when BPS’s Tactical Response Unit (TRU) and Emergency Response Team (ERT) are activated, according to the BPS website. The weapons calls may involve suspects who may be armed or may or may not have hostages. Using the ARV allows police to get closer to a situation safely, explained the website.

Each person except one woman who spoke with the Sun, said they felt the same about their personal safety. No one said they felt at risk in their neighbourhood. One person said, “This was not normal, so I’m not worried at all.”

Another woman remarked, “If the police are on it, I trust they’ve handled the situation.”

“It feels like the police are aware, so we’ll let them do their jobs,” a man told the Sun.

But a woman who heard the police on their megaphone calling to the residents of the home said, “There’s always problems with drugs with this house, lots of people coming in and out every day.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» X: @enviromichele