Six people were taken into custody over the course of a five-hour standoff outside a Kitchener home Tuesday.
Police first arrived at the Weber Street East home shortly before 10 a.m. The road was quickly closed between Franklin Street North and Euler Avenue as more officers, including a tactical unit, descended on the scene.
Pedestrians were told not to walk directly in front of the house, and nearby Sunnyside Public School was placed in a hold-and-secure procedure, one step shy of a lockdown, with students not allowed to leave the building until the end of the school day, after the police presence had calmed down.
Police believed there to be a weapon inside the house, but that didn’t stop neighbours and passersby from keeping an eye on what was going on at 1128 Weber Street East.
“A stray bullet could hit someone, so right now I don’t know if I’m safe or not, but I just want to see the event,” onlooker Dean Daly told CTV.
Two people left the house and were taken into custody shortly before noon. Around 3 p.m., four more people were escorted into squad cars.
Police say they were carrying out a request from Hamilton police, who were looking for several suspects after a vehicle was stolen from a Hamilton hotel at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Tuesday was not the first time in recent history that a heavy police presence was seen at that address.
“I’ve definitely seen emergency response police there before, I believe it was in December, and we definitely witnessed a high-risk takedown of some kind,” said neighbour Justin Chapman.
“Hopefully this party – or individual, whoever it is – may be removed from our neighbourhood."
Police in Hamilton say they believe the auto theft, which involved a gun and a knife, was a targeted robbery.
