Police descend on Anola, Man. Friday after RCMP say armed man barricaded himself in home

When Eric Metrow went to drive around his small Manitoba community Friday night he came face-to-face with an officer dressed in camouflage holding a rifle, he says.

RCMP tactical units and police cars shut down roads east of Anola, Man. — which is about 40 kilometres east of Winnipeg — starting around 9 p.m. Friday evening and into Saturday morning, Metrow said.

Officers were responding to an armed man who had secured himself in his home, RCMP said.

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On Friday RCMP received a report of a man with firearms uttering threats to his family and police. Officers and members of the Emergency Response Team secured the area around the home, where the man was alone inside.

On Saturday, officers entered the home and found the 45-year-old man dead. 

The investigation has been handed over to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, RCMP said. 

Drivers turned away from the area

Metrow was driving with a friend around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. He was headed eastbound on Highway 15 toward Provincial Road 302 when he was stopped by two police cars parked in the middle of the road without their lights on. Between the cars was a man holding a flashlight, he said.

"This guy was dressed in full camo. He had a balaclava on, holding an M16 [rifle]," Metrow said. 

On her way home from Winnipeg Friday night, Tiffany Winter and her boyfriend were also stopped by a heavily armed man dressed in camouflage. He told them they'd have to take a detour to get to their home on Highway 15, near the corner of Provincial Road 302.

When they finally arrived, there were RCMP cars at the end of their driveway. The couple asked what was going on, but all they were told was that it was serious, Winter said.

They were allowed inside their home but about three hours later Winter heard a loudspeaker booming outside. 

"We could hear them on a loudspeaker saying things like, 'Open the door. We are not here to hurt you, we want to help you. Answer the phone. We want to help. We just want to talk to you,'" she said.

Winter said she was awoken Saturday just after 6 a.m. by her dog barking and a banging on the door. An RCMP officer told her that she would have to stay in her house, or if she had to leave she could only head east. 

"I asked if everything was okay and they said they were just trying to get the situation under control," she said.

"I was kind of worried because I don't really know what's going on and things like that don't normally happen out here. It's usually quiet, small town, not a lot of drama happens. So I was concerned."

Many people from the Anola area posted questions about the incident on social media. Around 10 a.m. on Saturday, people online said that the roads were re-opened.

"To me it was just odd because you don't see that every day. It was a little bit frightening because it was a little bit close to home, and stuff like that shouldn't be happening close to home," Metrow said.