A woman is in custody after a bizarre incident involving a short-term rental suite, airsoft pistols and tactical officers swarming a Burnaby cul-de-sac.
Police launched a weapons investigation on Aug. 30 after a man reported he had been threatened with a gun at a suite he had rented in Burnaby, according to RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brett Cunningham.
He said the man told police he had paid a $300 deposit to rent a suite he had found online.
“He had not viewed the suite in person,” Cunningham said. “When the man showed up to the home, someone allegedly pointed a gun at him and told him to leave the property.”
Two days later, police executed a search warrant with help from the Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team.
Three airsoft pistols were located inside the unit the man said he had rented, and a woman was taken into custody.
“Police are continuing to investigate the offences of allegedly pointing a firearm and uttering threats,” Cunningham said.
Katherine Machel, who lives in the neighbourhood, said the house has been used for short-term rentals for at least three years – and neighbours are “not too happy” about how it has impacted the neighbourhood.
One short-term tenant told her the owner had partitioned the inside of the house to create extra units to rent out, Machel said.
“There are so many comings and goings,” she told the NOW. “They are there for such a short time; they don’t take care of the place, so the garbage would be all over the place in the front.”
The short-term rentals have also resulted in parking problems in the cul-de-sac, according to Machel.
Until Wednesday, however, she hadn’t had to deal with police issues related to the house, she said.
At about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, she said she left her house to walk to the library and was surprised by a tactical officer decked out in body armour and carrying an assault rifle.
He waved her back into her house as armed officers swarmed the cul-de-sac with “guns drawn,” she said.
Machel said the ordeal lasted about an hour and a half.
She said she saw police leading a man and woman away in handcuffs.
This article has been changed. The original stated the suite was on Airbnb, but the company has since contacted the NOW to say the property was removed two years ago.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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