Update: At 4:45 p.m. Inspector Kimberly Quartermain of the Fredericton Police Force addressed media outside of the police station in Downtown Fredericton.
At approximately 7:40 a.m. on October 22, police received a phone call alerting them of a male with a weapon in the Montgomery Street and Windsor area. It remains unclear if the individual in question was inside, or outside, of the residence.
The individual in question is a 28 year old male, with a criminal record. Quartermain could not speak to the exact criminal history of the man.
“I believe there were some weapons offenses,” she said.
The home was a two unit residence, and the family upstairs was quickly evacuated. In the basement apartment with the male were three others who were evacuated without incident.
There is public speculation that this incident is related to the incident last night in the university area in which a firearm was found in an abandoned vehicle, and a second firearm was found shortly thereafter.
“There is some relationship between last night’s incident and today’s,” Quartermain confirmed.
Following the arrest, the residence was secured and a search warrant was issued to be executed by the Major Crime Team.
“The residence was secured and searched for public safety. What was seen was two long guns, and a bulletproof vest, and knives,” Quartmain explained.. “…It’s unknown if there will be additional items found at this time.
The police will determine if the accused meets the conditions of release under Canadian law.
“ If he does not meet the conditions of release, he will be taken to court tomorrow,” Quartermain explained. “If he meets the conditions of release, and he [will] be released with a court date. ”At 4:10 p.m. the situation involving the barricaded individual was deemed to be resolved, and all hold and secure or lockdown orders were lifted.
Previous Story: Police presence on Montgomery Street has led to the lockdown of UNB, STU, and other schools in the area as of 8:31 this morning.
UNB students received a campus emergency notification at approximately 8:14 a.m. advising them to “avoid campus till further notice,” with a similar message sent to STU students.
Montgomery Street School also entered lockdown, and other area schools including NBCC, École Sainte-Anne, and École des Bâtisseurs have entered a hold and secure, according to tweets from the Fredericton City Police.
Priestman School was originally under a hold and secure, which has since been lifted.
Another tweet from the Fredericton City Police revealed this to be a response to a “barricaded person” in the Montgomery Street/College Hill area. Other reports have indicated a location near the top of the STU campus, in the Windsor Street area.
Residents of the College Hill and Montgomery Street area are being asked to stay in place and stay inside.
“We are asking people to stay out of that areas this morning while police are there,” said police spokesperson Alycia Bartlett.
Director of UNB Security Don Allen stated that campus security is following the direction of the city police, and that the closure of UNB campus was as a result of the proximity to the area of concern.
“This is basically just a precautionary advisement from city police,” said Allen. “…We are waiting on word from them on when to open things up again.”
At 4:10 p.m. the situation involving the barricaded individual was deemed to be resolved, and all hold and secure or lockdown orders were lifted.
“We can confirm that the barricaded individual has been taken into custody without incident,” the Fredericton City Police stated in a tweet shortly before 4 p.m., also indicating that the investigation into the situation would continue.
Taylor Chalker contributed reporting and writing.
