EDMONTON, Alberta – A man who barricaded himself with hostages inside the Edmonton Workers' Compensation building surrendered on Wednesday night, 10 hours after the drama began.
Edmonton police spokesman Dean Parthenis said the man surrendered without incident and that all hostages were unharmed.
The gunman, described as a disgruntled client, had charged into the Workers' Compensation Building in downtown Edmonton armed with a rifle about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, and quickly took a number of hostages in an office on the eighth floor.
Some 700 people work in the building on a normal day.
Emergency police dispatchers received a call from the building and quickly brought in tactical officers and negotiators.
Don Bellerose, a neighbor in the assisted-living facility where the hostage taker apparently lived, said the man sent a text message to one of the nurses at the facility saying he was going to settle a score with the Workers' Compensation Board on Wednesday morning.
He did not disclose the hostage-taker's name and estimated his age at about 35.
Bellerose said he believed the gunman was working in the concrete industry when he was injured on the job. He was cut off from benefits and had threatened to jump off a bridge into the North Saskatchewan River about three months ago. Bellerose said the bridge was shut down for three hours.
He also said the man's wife was taking him to court to get custody of their children.
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