Igloolik, Nunavut, man points rifle at RCMP

A 20-year-old Igloolik man is facing assault and weapons charges after an incident in Igloolik Tuesday night.

RCMP were called to a home at about 6:30 p.m. where a man was threatening suicide. The man pointed a rifle at officers, who took cover and called for a third officer.

"The members obviously spoke to him and tried to reason with him while he had the rifle in his hands, so they took up a safe location away from the house and began speaking to this man, attempting to have him put down the weapon," said Nunavut RCMP Supt. HiltonSmee.

The man then allegedly made death threats to the three officers and wanted the police to kill him.

The man then left the hamlet on an ATV which did not belong to him, and at one point collided with the side of a police truck while an officer was near the vehicle.

Smee said the man was arrested peacefully about 8:20 p.m. No one was injured. Police had warned people on local radio that they should stay inside their homes during the incident.

Shawn Kappianaq has been charged with assaulting a police officer with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, pointing a firearm, three counts of uttering threats, taking a motor vehicle without consent, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and taking flight from a police officer.

Kappianaq remains in police custody.