One person is in custody while RCMP have arrest warrants issued for two others after police in Fort Smith responded to a home invasion with a firearm last week.
Police say they got a call around 2:00 a.m. on May 5 that three men had broken into a home on St. Ann’s Street in the town and threatened to shoot the occupant about two hours prior to the call.
"A gun was reported to have been brandished by one of the suspects during the incident," stated a release from police on Monday. "The victim escaped from the residence unharmed."
Because of the amount of time before police were notified, the suspects could not be immediately found, added the release.
On May 8, one of the suspects, Lance Heron, 24, was arrested in Fort Smith. He's been charged with breaking and entering, uttering threats to a person and to an animal, and mischief less than $5,000, intimidation and using a firearm while committing an offence.
Heron appeared before a Justice of the Peace and was remanded into custody.
The remaining two suspects, Deonne Bourke, 28, and Tristan Mercredi, 25, both have active warrants out for their arrest. Both face the same charges as Heron with Bourke facing additional charges of failure to comply with undertaking conditions. Mercredi has been charged with several weapons-related offences, including possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a firearm while unauthorized.
Mercredi also faces a charge for possessing a weapon contrary to a prohibition order, along with three counts of failing to comply with a probation order.
RCMP believe all individuals involved are known to one another. Additional resources have been brought in to support the investigation, including members of the Territorial Crime Reduction Unit, Police Dog Services, and extra general duty officers.
If you know of the whereabouts of Bourke and/or Mercredi or if you see them, police stress that you do not approach them. You're asked to contact Fort Smith RCMP at 867-872-1111 or submit a tip online to Crime Stoppers at p3tips.com If it's an emergency, call 911.
