Halifax police find empty home following armed standoff

Police stormed the home around 2 p.m., armed with rifles and flack jackets.

A section of one of the busiest streets in Halifax was shut down for several hours Friday as police became involved in a standoff.

The incident started just before 5:30 a.m. after a patrol officer spotted a man with a gun in the window of a home on Compton Avenue, off Robie Street.

The officer called for backup and police began evacuating homes in the area.

Area residents say the incident was a startling wakeup call.

“When they came and pounded on the door they said we had to evacuate or stay in the basement until it was over,” said area resident Helen Vickery.

“It was for my own safety, that’s all they would say,” said another neighbour.

Police cordoned off the area and shut down Robie Street northbound from Quinpool Road to Cunard Street, as well as Robie Street southbound between Cunard and William streets, re-rerouting traffic and city buses.

Patrol officers, investigators, an emergency response team and a crisis negotiator all responded to the scene.

Shortly after 11 a.m., a man and a woman in a wheelchair came out of the barricaded home and were arrested by police, who took them into custody.

Several police vehicles and dozens of officers remained on the scene, as they believed another man was still inside the home, armed with weapons.

It took police much of the day to secure a warrant to enter the home, which they stormed around 2 p.m., armed with rifles and flak jackets.

“In this case we had to take the time to make sure no one would get injured and public safety was maintained,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages.

Police scoured the home in search of the suspect, but they found no one inside.

“They did not locate anybody inside,” Bourdages confirms. “The scene was turned over to the investigators with the general investigative section.”

All streets in the area re-opened around 3 p.m. and residents were allowed to return to their homes.

Police are still trying to determine if there was ever a third person in the home, and where that person may have gone.

As for the couple arrested at the scene, they have since been released from police custody.

The woman was released without charges, while the 55-year-old Halifax man is due to appear in court at a later date to face several weapons-related charges.

Neighbours say the couple has lived together in the home for several years.

The homeowner is listed as a Brenda Leanne Young, although someone named Brenda Hudder took out a mortgage on the home in 2007.

Neighbours say her partner’s son is Andrew Jason Hudder, who is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for attempted murder in connection with a shooting in the city earlier this month.

Police won’t confirm whether Friday’s standoff is related to Hudder, who is believed to be an associate of well-known local crime figure Jimmy Melvin.