Iglulik (Mar 06/06) - An Iglulik man will return to court on April 4 to face two counts of attempted murder and several firearms charges after a four-day standoff ended last Monday evening.

Theophile Akkuardjuk, 37, made a quick appearance in a Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit on Friday, during which his case was pushed forward.

The standoff began at around midnight Feb. 23 when a man barricaded himself and three children: a three-year-old boy, two-year-old girl and seven-month-old boy.

The standoff ended at about 9:17 p.m. Feb. 27 when the man surrendered.

According to RCMP Cpl. Andrew Turcotte, a woman phoned police to say her common-law husband had threatened to shoot her and their three young children.

When police arrived at the residence where the man was barricaded, Turcotte said the man pointed his gun at them and threatened to shoot. Later, the man fired two shots at two social workers approaching the house, and subsequently bolted himself and his kids inside, refusing to come out. The common-life wife was not inside the house.

An Emergency Response Team from Iqaluit and Yellowknife arrived in Iglulik early Friday morning.

For four days, police negotiators attempted to speak with the man over the phone. However, one source who wished to remain anonymous said the suspect would not speak with police but agreed to speak with his father's cousin.

Supplies were provided to the man and his children.

On community radio, Iglulik mayor Paul Quassa asked people to stay clear of the site, deeming it unsafe, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Dale McLeod.