‘Interesting day’ for police on Cactus Road

A roll out of several specially trained RCMP teams at one home in one day is uncommon.

What’s rarer is to have another equally dangerous call two doors down at the same time.

But that’s what officers in Kelowna were handed Thursday along Cactus Road.

The police spent nearly 10 hours stationed at the corner of Cactus and Monterey, dealing with two high-profile situations starting just after 10 a.m.

In a media release, Kelowna RCMP said an officer noticed a suspicious vehicle at a home on Cactus at around 9 a.m. and followed it to a gas station. When the officer tried to pull it over, the driver sped away.

While the vehicle was escaping, another officer in the area noticed a gun and ammunition on the side of the road, which police believe was thrown from the vehicle.

The car and suspects were eventually found back at the home on Cactus Road.

Given the situation, several more officers, the Emergency Response Team (ERT) and Police Dog Services (PDS) were sent in.

While waiting for a search warrant, officers were able to coax seven people out of the home. They were all taken into custody.

As this was unfolding, the RCMP received another call for an unrelated event two doors down.

Someone with outstanding warrants was in the second home and believed to have weapons.

The ERT was redeployed, and the suspect eventually surrendered to police. Three guns were seized.

“It was an interesting day,” media relations officer Mike Della-Paolera, said in a media release. “Our teams did an incredible job securing the neighbourhood and juggling the two unfolding incidents. It once again showed the cohesiveness of our teams working together to bring this stressful situation to a close.”

Both incidents are still under investigation.