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Person in distress call on Montgomery Street
Back to SearchFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 25, 2021 4:24pm
(Ottawa) – Ottawa Police have received multiple inquiries regarding a call for service on Montgomery Street that was received at 5:45 a.m. on March 24th.
The woman who called 911 reported a man in distress who was threatening self-harm.
After speaking with the female caller and then the man in distress, police were given an address on Montgomery and had clear indications that this was a life-threatening situation.
The original address provided on the call was a demolished residence and was a building under construction.
Based on cellular triangulation, police were able to narrow the origin of the call within a 25 metre radius to an address also on Montgomery. They approached the house they believed the call had come from and spoke to a young resident.
Officers then entered the home through an unlocked front door to ensure the safety of those inside and to attempt to locate the distressed callers. They announced themselves prior to entering and were able to quickly determine it was not the correct address.
No firearms were pointed at any of the occupants at any time. No one was injured or detained and there was no damage to the residence. Upon discovering it was not the correct address, police explained the situation, apologized and left.
Within minutes, the original female caller was found by an officer nearby after running out of a neighbouring house on Montgomery that she had been in. She told the officers the distressed man had been in the basement.
Officers were able to gain entry to the basement of the home through an unlocked door. This residence had multiple rental rooms and upon an initial search of the basement the officers found no one.
Officers began to call out to other people in the home. Eventually, a resident who had been sleeping came out of his room and police were able to determine that the man who had been threatening to harm himself had left the residence prior to the arrival of police.
Police are still working to locate the man to ensure his safety.
There was no dynamic entry conducted at any location in relation to this emergency call for service.
Life threatening calls like this pose a significant risk to those in distress and to other members of the community. A great amount of training and resources are used to bring them to a safe resolution. In this case, crisis negotiators, a Critical Incident Commander and trained tactical resources were all sent to assist.
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