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Police `tried desperately to negotiate' with distraught man: resident by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff 3 | Wednesday, November 20, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com An Oak Springs Road resident said Halton police tried desperately to negotiate with a distraught 22-year-old Oakville man, who appeared to be armed, before he was fatally shot by police Sunday night. Police were called to the neighbourhood at 10:45 p.m. The resident, who lives nearby and refused to give her name, said she first realized something was wrong when her son called her to look out his bedroom window, which overlooks the road. The woman told the Oakville Beaver, officers, with weapons drawn, had taken up position around their police cruisers and were calling out to a man in another car. "What I saw was the police trying very hard to get that young man out of the car. They kept asking him, time and time again, to `Please turn off the music and get out of the car,'" she said. According to the witness, the man did get out of the car and had what appeared to be a gun in his right hand. He pointed it at his head. "He walked out into (the) middle of the road with his left hand swung out into the air as if to say, `What are you going to do about it?' Then he got back into the car," she said. The neighbour said the standoff continued for more than an hour with police constantly talking to the man and saying things like, `We want to help you,' `Alex, we don't want anyone to get hurt here,' `Please put down the gun,' `Alex, your mom and dad are afraid for you,' `Your mom and dad want you to come home.' Halton police are not releasing the victim's name, however, he was a resident of Oakville and has family living on Oak Springs Road. Eventually, the individual, once again, emerged from the parked car. "It looked, at first, as if he was going to put his hands in the air and then he kind of stuck his arms straight out," said the woman, adding she then heard what sounded like an exchange of gunfire. "It was heartbreaking because he was a young man... I don't know what was going through his mind. I don't know what would have made him think there was no way back and that he had to do something like that." The Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which is investigating the shooting, has not confirmed whether the man was in possession of a firearm at the time of his death. Monica Hudson of SIU Communications would only say in a press release that at 10:45 p.m., Halton police received a call that led them to a residence on Oak Springs Road and officers found a man seated in a vehicle a few houses away from the residence from which the call was made. She stated preliminary information indicates the man got out of the vehicle and there was an `interaction' that resulted in officers discharging their firearms. The man was struck by the gunfire and pro- nounced dead shortly after midnight. Throughout much of Monday, yellow police tape and orange-and-black barricades prevented anyone from entering the area surrounding the Oak Springs/Upper Middle roads intersection, where numerous marked and unmarked Halton police cruisers and an SIU van could be seen. Police said the area would stay blocked off until 5 p.m. that day. Around noon, a tow truck removed a grey car from the scene. Brendan Wycks, who lives on nearby Banbury Crescent, said he received a phone call from Halton police around 11:45 p.m. Sunday advising him and his family to stay away from their windows and to go to their basement due to a situation developing outside. see SIU on p.4 Shhhh... Oakville's Best Kept Secret. No prices shown to avoid a stampede. The Highest Quality,The Lowest Price. Guaranteed. 309 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville 905.339.7604 · www.omnijewelcrafters.com *Subject to prior sale and may be terminated at any time. NOVEMBER SPECIAL! Buy this 7 pc dining set and get counter stools from the same collection 2 FREE Helping You Make Smart Decisions About Your Money Voted Number 1 Financial Planner 10 Years TABLE: 58 X 42 X 30 WITH (1) 20" LEAF EXTENDS TO 78 INCHES Peter Watson MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI Certified Financial Planner SINCE 1991 OAKVILLE 905-845-6556 · 427 SPEERS RD. UNIT 6 OPEN SUNDAYS ­ 11AM- 4PM www.palmabrava.com (BETWEEN DORVAL & 4TH LINE) 220 Randall Street · Downtown Oakville Phone: 905.842.2100 www.peterwatsoninvestments.com