Standoff ends at Halifax tattoo parlour after man surrenders to police

CTV Atlantic: Police on scene of parlour standoff Halifax police surrounded a business in Fairview after a man barricaded himself inside. CTV's Ron Shaw reports.

A standoff at a tattoo parlour on Titus Street in Fairview has ended, after a man surrendered to Halifax police around 2:40 am Saturday.

Police initially responded to the tattoo parlour around 9:15 a.m. Friday to arrest the man in connection with an outstanding warrant.

Police say the man pulled a knife when the arresting officer tried to speak with him. The officer backed away and called for backup, and the man retreated into the residence.

After a 17 hour standoff, the 38-year-old Halifax man exited the building, and was taken into police custody without incident.

He will appear in Halifax provincial court on Dec. 5. He faces charges of assaulting a police officer with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and breach of court order.

Titus Street between Main Avenue and Dutch Village Road, as well as Ashdale Avenue between Titus and Maple Streets were closed to traffic, with police asking people to avoid the area as they investigated.

The area has since been re-opened to traffic.

On Friday, Officers cordoned off the area and blocked adjacent streets, as they tried to speak with a man inside.

“Any time police do have contact with anybody, there’s always an unknown situation, so we have to be aware of our surroundings and alert to what’s going on,” says Constable Kristine Frasier of Halifax Regional Police.

The man took to social media, live streaming from inside the tattoo parlour.

“All kinds of people going, we’ve got 404 viewers - we’re live in Chris’s world,” the man was heard saying during the live stream.

At times during the live feed, the camera was pointed out the tattoo parlour’s windows at the police, onlookers and media outside. The live feed was even played back on a vehicle stereo in the parking lot across the street.

“I walked out of my place and there’s like a SWAT team right across the street, and then an officer came and told me I need to go in that direction,” says Will Camick, who lives next-door to tattoo parlour.

Traffic was disrupted for most of the Friday. A nearby restaurant owner said he hadn’t had a single customer all day.

“We have a lot of problems that we deal with on a regular basis in our store, like people coming in and stealing our little donation jars, violence in the store, customers throwing chairs at each other,” says restaurant owner Andrew Boutilier.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ron Shaw