Standoff in Cumberland neighbourhood ends 'safely,' RCMP say

One man is in custody following a police standoff in Cumberland, B.C. that lasted for just over six hours on Sunday.

Heavily armed Mounties responded to a home in the 2600 block of Rydal Avenue around 7 a.m. for what they described as an "ongoing police incident at a residence."

Neighbours told CTV News several homes in the area had been evacuated.

Comox Valley RCMP said on Twitter that the incident was confined to one home and the general public "is not considered to be at risk." Still, they asked people to avoid the area.

After lengthy negotiations failed to resolve the situation, Emergency Response Team members began to move in towards the home at 1:45 p.m. Loud bangs could be heard and the smell of some sort of gas was evident on the street outside the home.

The man surrendered himself to police outside the home and he was immediately taken into custody without any apparent injuries.

Neighbour Allan Beattie told CTV News he's met the family that lives in the home, and always found them to be "reasonable neighbours."

He said he believed it was a man inside the house, and that the other occupants – a woman and two children – had left around 7:15 a.m.

"We just hope that they can calm the guy down, or whatever," he said, adding that there's no way to know exactly what a person is going through that would lead to this type of situation.

Another neighbor, Willie Coyle, confirmed the man’s family had left the home earlier.

“It’s quite serious," Coyle said before police began moving in.

"The children have been taken out of the house. I don’t think his wife is there. He’s still in the house himself and the police officers have been very pleasant, they’ve been informing people, it doesn’t look like there’s any panic. It looks like it’s completely under control.”

RCMP are expected to release more information on the incident on Monday.