A large security perimeter was set up in the area and neighboring homes were evacuated for a few hours as a precaution.
It was a person who was in contact with the individual who alerted police at around 3:15 p.m. and mentioned that he appeared threatening to himself and others. SPS spokesman Hervé Berghella could not say whether the man was armed or not.
“The man is disorganized and potentially threatening,” Mr. Berghella said during an interview with Le Quotidien. There is always the possibility of having bladed weapons in a household, but we don’t anticipate it.”
Police were able to make contact with the person right at the start of the operation, but were no longer able to speak to him around 5:20 p.m. The investigators finally managed to make contact with the barricaded man again around 6 p.m.
A little earlier in the evening, patrol officers from the UNI troop, consisting of an SPS patrol officer and a social worker, were called to locations. “We have asked them to approach, but not necessarily to intervene, but if at all, to be ready,” the spokesman said.