Iqaluit Happy Valley standoff ends on day 3, no injuries

A standoff that began Tuesday afternoonin Iqaluit's Happy Valley neighbourhood ended peacefully Thursday morning with no injuries, according to Iqaluit RCMP.

"At approximately10a.m. [EST],April 30, 2015, the volatile situation has been de-escalated without injury," read a statement fromIqaluitRCMP."The individual has been safely removed from the residence."

Police responded to a call Tuesday afternoonin the Happy Valley area about a distressed man with a firearm in a house in theIqaluitneighbourhood.RCMPand municipal enforcement officers set up roadblocks at the intersections ofAtungauyaitDrive andQiyuttaatLane ataround 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Armed police, including an Emergency Response Team, surrounded the area and residents were asked to stay inside their homes.Anumber of shots were firedfrom the residence during the incident,according toRCMP.

RCMPhave advised that the police blockade will remain in place for the time being in order to preserve the scene, though residents have confirmed that some people have been able to pass in or out of the roadblocks.

Jasen Kelly, who works for the CBC in Iqaluit, was locked down in his homenear the standoff since Tuesday afternoon. This morning, according to Kelly, RCMP evacuated homes around where the standoff was taking place. By 9 a.m. ET, Kelly says he could see police putting on padded gear.

Officers then entered the house, says Kelly, and could later be seen high-fiving each other, signaling the end of the conflict. An officer then put up his thumb to let neighbours know the standoff had ended.

Police have taken a man in his 20s into custody as a result of the incident.

School reopens

During the two-day confrontation, police usedflashbanggrenades during the confrontation, and spoke with the man in his residence using amegaphone. As the situation stretched into a second, and then third day,Mountiesfrom the south were flown in to "spell off" theirIqaluitcounterparts.

An emergency shelter was set up Tuesday night at the Arctic Winter Games complex youth centre for residents who couldn't return to their homes as a result of the roadblock. Red Cross representatives told CBC that six people slept at the shelter Tuesday night, and 10on Wednesday.

SonjaLonsdale, principal ofJoamieschool,told CBC that she received a call at 10:07 a.m. ET that it was safe to reopen, and that the school would reopen for theafternoon.Joamie, which sits on a hill above the house where the incident took place, was closed on Wednesday, as well as Thursday morning.

'Thank goodness'

CraigDunphy, who lives in Happy Valley and was trapped in his home during thelockdown, said thenews was "a relief."

"Thank goodness," he said."Thank goodness is all I can say that there was no one hurt on either side."

Dunphy praised the actions of RCMP, though he added that he was going "a bit stir crazy" after being trapped in his home since Tuesday afternoon.

"I must say the RCMP have been good," he said."My wife had an appointment with a specialist this morning, and they were able to guide her out. And she took some extra stuff for my daughter who was out and hadn't been able to get home."