Arrest ends marathon search for gunman in Cochrane
Posted Aug 18, 2014 7:36 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RCMP are expected to release more details about a wild incident that kept police resources busy for almost five hours Sunday night.
Around 5 p.m., police got a call about a man in camouflage pants allegedly armed with a long gun.
Residents in the Mitford Park area we’re told to stay inside, with the town’s mayor even sending out a warning via Twitter.
RCMP Constable John Spanz tells 660News, shortly after they got the call for help, officers did confront a man in the area, but instead of surrendering he disappeared into a nearby wooded area.
Police resources from Calgary, including the HAWCS helicopter were dispatched.
Eventually police surrounded a home on Quigley Drive, where the man barricaded himself in the basement.
The man, who has been identified as Ben Laslo, eventually surrendered and was taken away in handcuffs.
“It’s crazy, this is Cochrane, nothing ever bad happens here,” Resident Kaitlynn Knight said.
A Facebook page belonging to a Ben Kaslo contains a video during which the man says he plans to avenge a recent beating at a bar.
Video courtesy of John Williams:
