Castanet

Richard J. Brennan
National Affairs Writer

Vancouver Police are negotiating with a lone gunman holed up at the upscale downtown Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

“Shortly after 2:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) a man in his 20s walked into the hotel in possession of a handgun. The man did not point the handgun at anybody but he walked into a common area of the hotel (on the second) floor that was unoccupied,” Sgt. Randy Fincham of the Vancouver Police Department told the Toronto Star.

Fincham said the Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team began negotiating with him shortly after he entered the hotel.

“They are attempting to negotiate with him to determine exactly what he wanted,” he said.

According to one news report, so far he has only asked for a glass of water.

“Our concern at this point is to ensure the safety of the guests at the hotel as well as staff, the police officers who are there as well as the man who is there with the gun. We obviously want to have a safe resolution to this, so we will do what it takes to safely resolve it,” Fincham said.

He noted that the common area where the man is located has been cordoned off from the rest of the hotel.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/poli ... -rim-hotel

Update ... wonder how long this will last.

Police have shut down part of downtown Vancouver after a distraught man with a handgun walked into the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel early this morning.

Police say the man, believed to be in his 20s, walked into the lobby of the hotel around 2:30 a.m. PT and showed his gun to staff.

He is now in a public area by himself on the second floor. Officers have been negotiating with him, but so far he has only asked for water and made no demands, said police.

"Our negotiators are speaking with this man, trying to figure out what he wants and why he is here. We do not know who he is at this point," said Const. Brian Montegue.

No shots have been fired and no injuries have been reported.

Police have told guests to stay in their rooms and traffic around the hotel has been blocked off for several blocks.

The hotel is located in downtown Vancouver near Burrard Street and Canada Place.

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/police-in ... uver-hotel

hope someone got him that water.

Should have added sleeping pills into his water.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim is so selective that you can only get a room on the second foor brandishing a gun.