Man arrested, charged after entering Preston Crossing business with fake guns

Staff at local businesses were forced to escape and shelter in place following reports of a man with a gun in Saskatoon.

This happened at Saskatoon’s Preston Crossing shopping centre around 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning.

That’s when Shelley Bueckert suddenly noticed Saskatoon Police vehicles, and the armoured rescue vehicle descending on a strip mall right across the street from the Shop USask store where she works.

“They had big, heavy guns. Apparently, they were at Booster Juice and somebody barricaded themselves…the staff got out the back door, went into BarBurrito where they locked their door,” she recalled, adding that she’d also spoken to staff at the second store.

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Bueckert locked the doors of her store and watched as the situation unfolded in front of staff. An employee at Press’d Sandwich Co. in the same strip mall also confirmed to 650 CKOM via telephone they were told to lock their doors, because of the incident unfolding at the smoothie store next door.

Buechert said the entire incident lasted about half an hour or so before someone was taken into custody.

“They (police) had their big tripod guns…there were 11 or 12 police cars that were here,” she described.

“We saw one guy be escorted to a police car. He was just handcuffed and was calm.”

Saskatoon Police Service confirm the incident

When Saskatoon arrived at the business — after reports of a man with a firearm — it directed staff to exit the building through the back, which they were able to do.

Officers instructed surrounding businesses to shelter in place.

The Tactical Support Unit responded with an armoured rescue vehicle and was successful in calling the suspect out without incident.

Police found three imitation firearms and a can of bear spray on the man.

The 24-year-old has been charged with possession of a dangerous weapon, unauthorized carry of a concealed weapon and failure to comply with court-ordered conditions.