London police cruiser file photo. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)London police cruiser file photo. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)
London

Animal Cruelty Probe Leads To Standoff

A London man is facing charges after an injured cat was found and a humane society investigator threatened in an incident that sparked a police standoff at a north-end apartment building.

An officer with the London Humane Society found a cat suffering from a head injury while investigating a report of animal cruelty at an apartment at 349 Wharncliffe Rd. around 3pm on Wednesday. As the officer removed the cat from the home, police say a man threatened to kill both the officer and the cat. The officer left the building unharmed and called police.

When police officers arrived at the apartment at 4pm, the man began firing an air soft gun at the inside of his door. The gun was then fired several times in the direction of a neighbouring apartment building where a person was sitting on the porch.

The standoff ended roughly five hours later when members of the Emergency Response Unit stormed the apartment, arresting a man without incident.

A 21-year-old London man is charged with uttering threats of death or bodily harm, uttering threats to animals, killing or injuring an animal, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon, and discharging an air gun with intent to wound.

Police say the injured cat was taken to the humane society for treatment. There is no word on the animal's condition. No one else was injured in the incident.

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