Man barricades himself in Guelph highrise for four hours

Tactical teams and the canine unit were called to Bryden Apartments on Waterloo Avenue in Guelph, Ont., on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. (Courtesy Jenny Goddard)

Residents of a Guelph apartment complex found their building crawling with police Thursday morning as a man barricaded himself in an apartment.

Police called in tactical teams and the canine unit to the 11-storey Waterloo Avenue highrise shortly before 10 a.m.

“Police officers were spending time speaking with this gentleman, trying to understand why he was feeling the duress he was feeling,” police spokesperson Const. Mike Gatto told CTV.

Heavy police presence in such a high-population area meant word quickly got around to neighbours.

“I saw the cop with a machine gun. Nobody was coming in and nobody was going out,” said Jenny Goddard, who lives across from the building.

With officers tight-lipped about the situation, residents were left to gossip among themselves and come to their own conclusions.

“I heard there was a guy on the eighth floor who was being evicted and he threatened to kill the superintendent,” said Goddard.

While pervasive, that rumour turned out to not be true. The building manager told CTV the man is not a resident of the Bryden Apartments, only a friend or acquaintance of one.

After a four hour standoff, the 23-year-old man left the apartment and was taken into custody.

“There were no injures and there are no charges pending,” said Gatto.

The man was taken to Guelph General Hospital for assessment.