OTTAWA — The RCMP say a man who rammed his truck through a gate at Rideau Hall Thursday was loose on the grounds with a gun for 13 minutes before police laid eyes on him.
Deputy Commissioner Mike Duheme says the man, who police have not yet officially identified, will be charged with multiple offences today and have a bail hearing.
National Capital Commission staff came upon the man's abandoned truck inside the gate shortly after 6:30 a.m. yesterday and then alerted Commissionaires on site who noticed him walking on a path with a gun a few minutes later.
Duheme says security footage shows the man hid in a rose garden armed with what appeared to be a rifle for three minutes before running up a path to the greenhouse attached to the back of the Rideau Hall residence where Gov. Gen. Julie Payette normally lives.
RCMP officers spotted him in the greenhouse at 6:43 a.m., began talking with him two minutes later, and then negotiated with him for more than 90 minutes before arresting him.
Neither Payette nor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family, who live in another building on the grounds, were there at the time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2020.
