Barrie man in custody after 24-hour stand-off

A stand-off between a Barrie man and city police has ended peacefully after 24 hours.

The incident began Monday at around 2:30 p.m. after police said they responded to a call regarding a person in crisis in the city’s south end.

“Shortly after 5:00 p.m. yesterday, we determined his whereabouts, which was down in the Yonge and Mapleview Drive area. We immediately cordoned off that area,” said Peter Leon with Barrie Police.

The suspect, a man in his late 40s from the Barrie area, was seen in the parking lot of St. Paul’s Anglican church.

Police negotiators tried to convince the man to surrender. Police will not say if he had any weapons or if any shots were fired. Several intersections had to be closed for public safety, catching many people off guard Tuesday morning.

“I live three doors down from the situation, and when I walked by this morning, I saw a big armoured truck and a swat team, and the whole neighbourhood has been locked down for a pretty big distance. They won’t let anyone in. I can’t even go home now; I have to wait,” said one man in the area.

Yellow police tape was scattered around the city’s south end throughout the day as police tried to bring a peaceful ending to the situation.

GO train service from the Mapleview stop in Barrie was also affected Tuesday morning.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Peel Regional Police were called to assist Barrie police as the incident approached the 24-hour mark.

“There are individual situations where there is no set rules the negotiation will take you where it needs to go,” said Leon.

Just before 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, police got the man to surrender. He was taken into custody, where he was then transported to receive medical attention. 

Police said the investigation will continue in the coming days.