NAUJAAT/REPULSE BAY - One man has been arrested and will face 11 charges following an armed standoff, which ended peacefully, in Repulse Bay on Sept. 28.

RCMP in the community located a suspect at his home following an assault complaint at about 2:50 p.m, said Staff Sgt. Stephen Bergerman of the Iqaluit detachment.

The suspect is accused of pointing a firearm at police while he barricaded himself inside his home.

"A total of three gunshots were heard within a three-hour period. Two of those shots were directed at the RCMP members on scene," Bergerman said.

The Iqaluit emergency response team, police dog service, a negotiator, a critical incident commander and RCMP members from the Rankin Inlet detachment were sent to the community, he said. For about seven hours, Bergerman said police negotiated with the suspect, who surrendered to police without incident.

"There were no injuries to the suspect or RCMP members involved," he said.

Benjamin Malliki, 19, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of assault with a weapon, one count of assault and seven other Criminal Code-related charges. Malliki is being held in jail until his next court appearance, scheduled for Oct. 5 in Iqaluit.

Most of the community was under lockdown while the incident occurred.

Aubrey Bolt, principal of Tusarvik School in Repulse Bay, said the school ended the lockdown at about 8 p.m. as police dealt with the armed standoff a few streets from the school.

"A lot of the younger kids were scared and crying, so we tried our best to settle them. The older kids weren't afraid but because they were confined to the school, they were kind of upset," he said. "But for the most part, it worked out fairly well. It was a trying day, put it that way."

He added the RCMP kept the school informed hourly.

Repulse Bay Mayor Donat Milortok said he saw fighting behind a house when he got back to work at the hamlet. When he arrived at the office, he said he learned details of the situation.

Bolt said the RCMP came to the school three weeks ago to practise a lockdown procedure in the event of intruders coming into the school. He added when the armed standoff occurred on Sept. 28 students and staff were prepared for it and did as they had practised.

"Even though this doesn't happen very often, it's certainly good that schools practice lockdown procedures so the kids aren't frightened when it happens and are prepared and know what to do," he said.

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