Police and EMS respond to an alleged domestic dispute at a Crescent Heights apartment Thursday evening - Photo by Colton McKee

By Charles Lefebvre

Police provide additional information about Thursday night standoff

Jan 3, 2020 | 3:25 PM

Medicine Hat, AB — Medicine Hat Police have released more information about a alleged domestic dispute Thursday night which resulted in a multi-hour standoff at a Crescent Heights apartment building.

Police received a call around 4 p.m. for reports of a male breaching a court order in an apartment. When police arrived, the male had allegedly barricaded himself in the apartment and would not speak with police. Officers also learned there was a woman in the apartment at the time, allegedly being held against her will.

Just after 6:30 p.m., police brought in additional resources, including the tactical team, the armoured response vehicle and the K9 unit to assist. Fire and EMS were also called in.

“Anytime we have someone that is unlawfully confining somebody else, and they’re in a barricaded situation, it’s very dangerous not only for the person in the apartment, but also the civilians in the area and the police officers on scene,” said Inspector Brent Secondiak.

Secondiak adds the situation taking place in an apartment provides an additional challenge for police.

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“We don’t know who is in there, we don’t know who is friendly with police or who is not, so there is a lot of unknowns,” he said. “We weren’t familiar with the exact layout of the suite, so that’s something that we need to do to ensure everybody’s safety. It’s higher, densely populated than a single family house.”

Residents of the apartment building were ordered to shelter-in-place during the duration of the incident, said Secondiak. If a firearm was involved, or there was the threat of arson, residents would have been evacuated from the building for safety, he explained.

A 27-year-old male was taken into custody at approximately 9 p.m. after police made the decision to enter the apartment.

The woman was not injured.

The man, who is from Regina, is known to Medicine Hat police, says Secondiak.

He is currently in custody facing charges of unlawful confinement and breaching a court order. His name cannot be released until charges are officially sworn against him.