A man wanted for a double murder in Chilliwack was arrested tonight after a two-hour standoff with police at a home in Abbotsford.
Aaron David Douglas, 33, was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in connection with the shooting deaths of Richard Blackmon, 38, and Tyler Belcourt, 36.
Both were gunned down in the early hours of Aug. 7 in the 46100 block of Gore Avenue in Chilliwack. A third person escaped with her life but was injured.
Abbotsford Police officers and members of the emergency response team surrounded a home on Rainbow Avenue in Abbotsford today (Thursday) at about 4:30 p.m.
Police called several times for the suspect to exit the home.
When he failed to do so, they launched several flash-bang distraction devices and activated their sirens.
The officers also tossed canisters of gas into both the front and the back of the house.
The suspect exited the home, crawling on his hands and knees, at about 6:45 p.m. and was arrested.
IHIT released the man’s name on Twitter just before 8 p.m., thanking everyone who assisted in the arrest.
IHIT issued a warrant for Douglas’ arrest just days after the double murder, saying he had been identified as the prime suspect.
He had just been released from police custody about a month earlier after an unrelated attempted-murder charge was dropped against him.
In that case, he pleaded guilty to a weapons charge and was sentenced to time served (19 months) followed by three years’ probation.
Douglas has a criminal record dating back to 1996 with multiple convictions for offences such as possession for the purpose of trafficking, driving while prohibited, breaching his probation, resisting a police officer, possessing an unauthorized firearm, possession of stolen property and drug trafficking.
Almost all of the offences occurred in Chilliwack.
– with file from the Chilliwack Progress
