Nunavut RCMP defuse firearms incident in Pangnirtung

An incident involving an armed man causes Alookie elementary school to close down Feb. 6. (FILE PHOTO)

An armed man caused the community of Pangnirtung, population roughly 1,500, to go under a partial lockdown last week.

On Feb. 6, at about 9:30 a.m., the Pangnirtung RCMP detachment received a complaint that a 24-year-old man had assaulted a resident in a home and “was possibly in possession of a firearm,” a Feb. 15 police news release said.

RCMP members went to the residence where they found man inside with a firearm, who then threatened to harm himself and the police.

“As a result of the threat, members exited the residence and set up containment in engaged in a conversation with the accused in an effort to de-escalate the situation,” the release said.

Alookie elementary and Attagoyuk secondary schools were under a lockdown during the morning of Feb. 6 as a “precautionary measure,” Nunavut’s department of education said in a Feb. 6 statement to Nunatsiaq News.

By the afternoon, the lockdown had been lifted, and the department said all students, faculty and staff were safe.

The RCMP confirmed Feb. 15 that, “within a very short period of time, the man surrendered the firearm and exited the residence without incident and was taken in police custody.”

Police also seized a prohibited weapon linked to the incident.

“These situations can be extremely volatile and unpredictable; however it is V Division’s main objective to ensure public safety,” the RCMP release said.

Denny Kilabuk, 24, faces charges which include assault, pointing a firearm, mischief, uttering threats, possession of a prohibited weapon and a breach on an undertaking to a Justice of the Peace. Kilabuk, who was remanded into custody, is scheduled to appear March 7 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.