Armed stand off ends with arrest after more than 9 hours

An armed stand off involving Estevan police and swat team members finally ended with an arrest in the early hours of the evening on Tuesday.

Estevan Police Chief Rich Lowen confirmed that a male suspect, who had barricaded himself inside his home on 4th Street, was arrested around 7 p.m.

Police had been on the scene since around 9:30 a.m.

Lowen said there were no injuries and the man, 62, is in custody.

"I am very relieved and happy that it was with a good outcome," Lowen said. "Everything ended well and our team responded very well."

He added that patience was key in a situation like this.

"In this kind of scenario here time is on our side and it really works in our favour to be patient. There was no need to rush in as long as we knew that nobody else was in there," Lowen said. 

"We had to make sure the male was still in communication with our officers and we were able to maintain that communication so that we knew that he was not in a position where he was going to harm himself at that point, so we knew that we could wait and just be patient, and patience is what paid off in the end here," he said.

Lowen said the suspect eventually came out of his home after lengthy talks with negotiators and was then arrested.

Witnesses from the scene said the man opened the front door around 4:45 p.m. and was shot by what appeared to be two rubber bullets before retreating back inside.

You can read more about how this story developed throughout the day here.

Police remained on scene as of Tuesday night and the investigation is ongoing. Residents were being encouraged to stay away from the area.

Lowen said nearby neighbours who were evacuated earlier in the day would have been able to return Tuesday night.