Bullet narrowly missed cop, hostage-taker facing 10 charges
A 38-year-old Richmond man has been charged with 10 criminal counts including kidnapping and unlawful confinement in connection with a June 7 hostage-taking incident that shut down J.N. Burnett secondary and Mckay elementary schools.
Richmond Mounties have kept quiet about details of the incident, not even willing to confirm it was a hostage-taking, until Tuesday afternoon.
In the early afternoon of Tuesday, June 7, police responded to complaints of a dispute at Sussex Square on the 7200 block of Lindsay Road, near the Thompson Community Centre.
Officers knocked at the door, at which time a single shot was fired through the wall, narrowly missing a police officer.
"The bullet then travelled through another wall into a neighbouring suite," Richmond RCMP Cpl. Sherrdean Turley said. "We are extremely fortunate that no one was injured or killed."
After bringing in the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team and crisis negotiators, police discovered the man had a handgun and a woman was in the suite with him.
More than five hours later, the two occupants left the apartment without incident.
The following day, police obtained a search warrant and seized evidence from the ground-floor condo.
James Roper was charged Friday in Richmond provincial court and will be making his next court appearance on June 23.
He's charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm, discharging a firearm and discharging a firearm with intent.
According to police, Roper has an extensive criminal history.
The shooting incident had police shutting down both Burnett and Mckay schools as a precaution, wanting to avoid children from the school returning home to the massive condo complex in the midst of the negotiations.
Access to much of the Sussex Square condos was restricted during the incident.
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