Richmond road closed as police respond to mental health crisis call

Update 4:50 pm: Police say the man was arrested and nobody was injured. 

Police closed a busy road in Richmond Thursday afternoon as they tried to de-escalate a crisis situation involving a man who barricaded himself inside his home with a knife to his throat.

Richmond RCMP responded to the 4200 block of Garden City Road around 1:30 pm to check on a man who allegedly threatened to burn down the residence.

When police arrived, they found the man inside with a knife pressed against his throat.

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Crisis negotiators and heavily armed officers with the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team are on scene to “ensure the safety and well-being of the male as well as the surrounding neighbours,” Mounties said in a news release.

Officers brought the man into custody just before 4:30 pm, police said in a second news release. Nobody was injured.

Garden City Road was closed in both directions near Cambie Road, and police asked the public to avoid the area while they dealt with the situation.