SQ defuses armed standoff in Kangiqsujuaq

This week, another potentially explosive situation between an armed man and police saw a SWAT team from the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force in Rouyn-Noranda dispatched to Kangiqsujuaq.

The stand-off began late Easter Sunday and lasted 30 hours.

According to Sgt. Ghislain Blanchette of the SQ, a man in Kangiqsujuaq had an argument with his ex-wife, then barricaded himself in the residence and fired twice at constables from the Kativik Regional Police Force with a hunting rifle.

“Around 11:30 p.m., we received a call because they wanted some back-up support,” Blanchette said.

Police, negotiators, investigators and a SWAT team flew to Kangiqsujuaq that night in a special charter.

The incident didn’t end until 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

“He left without his firearm and was arrested,” Blanchette said. “We handed him over to the KRPF.”

Uqituk Uqituk, 27, was taken into custody and flown to Kuujjuaq, where he faces numerous charges in connection with the incident, one of 30 armed incidents that KRPF constables have dealt with since the beginning of 2004.

Last month, a 25-year old Aupaluk man was fatally shot by a Kativik Regional Police Force constable after the man threatened to open fire.