PORT McNEILL – An armed man who held off RCMP for more than nine hours Feb. 8 will remain in custody for at least two more weeks.
Trevor Ryan Vandervalk of Port McNeill faces a dozen charges including theft, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, three firearms charges, weapons charges, breaking and entering, and mischief. Vandervalk was arrested about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 8 after an all-day standoff ended peacefully. He appeared in court in Port Hardy Feb. 15 via video. His case was put off until March 1, however, to give Vandervalk opportunity to consult with a lawyer.
Crown Counsel Mark Wolf said the Crown would not be consenting to his release.
Some of the charges relate to alleged offenses at a residence on Mine Road in Port McNeill earlier in the day on Feb. 8, prior to the police standoff. During this altercation, it is alleged that Vandervalk retrieved a firearm belonging to the male resident of the home, uttered threats, assaulted him, and fled. The alleged victim was not seriously injured.
Residents then reported a man riding a bike in the community while in possession of a rifle.
Vandervalk, aged 32, is known to police and was under a firearms prohibition and on probation at the time of these alleged offenses.
Police caught up with Vandervalk after he had already entered his girlfriend's home at Unit 24 in the Kaleva Gardens townhouse complex at the end of Broughton Boulevard in Port McNeill.
Officers from Port Hardy RCMP, the North Island RCMP Emergency Response Team, and RCMP Police Dog Service responded to the incident.
Officers cordoned off the area around the complex. One teenager was at home alone in the same block of townhouses, just three doors down from where the gunman was holed up. Police went in about 3 p.m. and got the girl out, reuniting her with her mother. All other residents of the townhouses were evacuated shortly afterward.
All three schools in the community, two elementary schools and one high school, were locked down until school dismissed. Both North Island Secondary and Sunset Elementary are within two blocks of the townhouse complex.