Fort St. John RCMP says no snipers involved in Charlie Lake incident

CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. — The Fort St. John RCMP wishes to clarify that no snipers were involved in an incident the detachment responded to on Monday morning.

On Monday morning, members of the Fort St. John RCMP responded to a report of an individual behaving erratically.

Police say that the individual uttered a threat about a firearm.

“We responded, set up containment and a perimeter, negotiated them out safely and arrested them without incident,” said Fort St. John RCMP detachment commander Inspector Anthony Hanson.

Another local media outlet reported there was gunfire in the area and stated that witnesses saw what they believed to be snipers—a claim that Hanson says is not accurate.

“[There was] no gunfire, there were no snipers. The only snipers that exist in the RCMP belong to the emergency response team, which was not there,” Hanson clarified.

The detachment commander says what witnesses likely saw were regular frontline officers armed with standard-issue carbine rifles.

“We’re phasing out shotguns and bolt action rifles. So that’s what they saw. They saw frontline members, several of them probably, with those rifles, but there were no snipers.”

Hanson concluded by stating that no charges have been laid against the individual at this time, adding that there is no threat to public safety.