Images of the guns Peel Regional Police say officers were faced with during an armed standoff with a man inside a medical building on the Credit Valley Hospital campus in Mississauga shows just how bad this could have turned out.
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“When police arrived, they were alerted to an individual in possession of several firearms, who had barricaded himself in a medical office building,” said Peel Police. “This individual presented a significant risk to public safety, as well as the safety of all responding officers, as this building is in immediate proximately to a major health-care facility.”
Police said negotiators “maintained continuous contact” with an individual in a building at Erin Mills Pkwy. and Eglinton Ave. on Friday to “facilitate a peaceful surrender.”
This was terrific police work.
If it had have gone the way of an armed person being shot and killed by police, or if civilians were wounded or killed in the process, the scrutiny would rightly be intense. This call had the potential to see many people perish.
No one did, and that is a testament to the fine work of the officers involved.
“A big thanks to Peel Police for securing public safety and negotiating a peaceful surrender — once again proving they are amongst the best in the country,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who also thanked Mississauga Fire and the Trillium Hospital system for their efforts.
Many know just how much worse this could have turned out.
“I would like to thank Peel Police for their outstanding professionalism in this matter,” said Silvia Gualtieri, candidate for Mississauga council’s Ward 2. “Officers acted in a measured fashion and successfully de-escalated the situation and apprehended the alleged perpetrator.”
The whole time the area around the hospital complex was shutdown, a team of officers and crisis negotiators were working to bring the situation to a peaceful end.
William Horodyski, 66, of Calgary, was taken into custody early Saturday and charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, three counts of forcible confinement, and other offences. The charges have not been tested in court.
More details will hopefully come in a future column.
Right now, this is a very active case and police are trying to determine just what was behind the chaos.
“Investigators from the 11 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau will be working closely with the Calgary Police Service over the next number of weeks in an attempt to understand fully the nature of the incident,” said Peel Police.
Police are also looking to figure out the motive for what happened.
Police said that during the standoff, attempts were made by the alleged gunman to email and communicate with people outside the building.
What is also known is the weapons allegedly involved had a lot of firepower and were capable of inflicting a lot of damage.
But not one person was hurt.
