A suicidal 41-year-old Abbotsford man who suffered non-life threatening injuries after shooting himself Saturday in Whistler is now recovering in a Vancouver hospital.
The individual was at the centre of a standoff with Whistler RCMP and members of an emergency response team.
He was transported to the Whistler Health Care Centre shortly after 7:30 p.m. Sgt. Rob Knapton of the Whistler RCMP said the man fired his handgun at about that time after the RCMP members on scene did their best to negotiate an end to the stand-off.
As of 9:30 p.m. Saturday RCMP members were beginning to wrap up the investigation into the incident.
Knapton said it all started much earlier.
"At approximately 1500hrs, Whistler RCMP received a call of a suicidal male from the lower mainland who was on his way to Whistler," said Knapton in an email message sent to reporters as the drama was happening.
"Whistler officers were able to locate the vehicle at the south end of town and attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued into the Whistler village where it stopped in Day Lot #3. The driver of the vehicle was observed exiting the vehicle with a handgun and continuing on foot into the dirt bike park where (the RCMP was) able to contain him."
The lower mainland emergency response team was dispatched to the scene along with the conflict negotiation team to attempt to negotiate a peaceful end to the incident. Knapton said there was a team of about 35 to 40 RCMP members on the scene trying to resolve the situation. Residents of Squamish and Whistler were alerted to the incident as the RCMP members from Vancouver moved through the two communities in unmarked police vehicles with lights and sirens on at times.
News outlets were asked to discourage people from gathering at the scene. Knapton said he was in the parking lot from about 5 p.m. onward and there were very few onlookers.
"I was pretty impressed that people kept away from the area," said Knapton. “We didn’t have a bunch of people up on the road there watching.”
-with files from Clare Ogilvie
