The Ottawa Police Service has identified a man facing multiple charges for allegedly barricading himself inside Parliament Hill’s East Block, prompting an hours-long standoff Saturday.
Police say Tyler Hall-Worthington, 31, of Ottawa has been charged with two counts of breach of probation, public mischief and uttering threats to cause property damage.
Police said in an update Sunday morning he “entered the security screening area of the East Block of Parliament Hill and began making threats to the safety of those inside” at around 2:40 p.m.
“The man was isolated to the security screening area, and the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) and the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) attended to facilitate an evacuation of the building and surrounding area,” reads the update.
Police say he “surrendered peacefully” at the scene after hours of negotiations.
No injuries were reported, police say, noting that “no explosives, weapons or hazardous materials were located on the accused.”
Police said Saturday that he was the sole individual involved.
Hall-Worthington appeared in court Tuesday and was remanded in custody until a bail hearing scheduled for April 10.
An alert from the PPS at 2:45 p.m. asked people inside to “seek shelter in the nearest room. Close and lock all doors and hide.”
The alert asked those not in the immediate area to stay away until further notice and not to travel to places under lockdown.
Senator Patrick Brazeau posted “stay safe Ottawa” on X after receiving the notice.
PPS, the police force for the parliamentary precinct, said in an email Monday that the situation was resolved peacefully and referred further questions to Ottawa police.
Police had to bring in specialized units, including at least one canine unit and explosives units as the situation continued into the evening hours. Two bomb disposal unit robots were seen in front of Centre Block, according to The Canadian Press.
Dozens of Ottawa police and PPS vehicles were seen in the area while nearby Wellington Street was closed to traffic.
Ottawa police chief Eric Stubbs would not comment on how the man got into the building in an interview on Monday, but said the full resources of the service’s tactical team were utilized to safely resolve the situation.
“Our primary goal is safety of the public. We will do our best to contain that person so they’re alone. There’s no chances of an innocent people getting hurt or any hostage type situation from occurring,” he said.
He added that Ottawa police will be working with PPS to determine if any lessons can be learned from the incident.
“That’s a common practice that we’ll do after every complex, significant call,” he said.
The East Block holds the offices of senators and their staff, according to a government web page. Parliament is currently dissolved because of the federal election.
The web page says the building once held the offices of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Etienne Cartier, and that it still contains “faithful recreations of the offices of its famous occupants from the 19th century.”
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV’s Joshua Marano
