Family recalls shock as police swarmed farm in standoff that left barn in flames, 1 presumed dead
Brar family says they were told to stay inside after report of 'distraught' person led to huge police response
A family in Langley, B.C., is still in shock two days after tactical police officers arrived at their door and told them to hide in their farmhouse with the lights off, a family member told CBC News.
Friday's police standoff saw dozens of officers swarm the Brar family's blueberry farm, responding to reports of a "distraught" person on the property at around 4 p.m. PT on Friday.
At around 10:40 that night, according to police, the family's barn was engulfed in flames — along with two RCMP vehicles.
Police believe one person, who had barricaded themselves in the barn, is dead.
"The SWAT team … they were running around all the house," said Sandeep Brar, who owns the property on the 23500-block of 0 Avenue, near the U.S.-Canada border. "We were totally shocked.
"There's lots of RCMP police cars, fire trucks, and then ambulances ... I was totally shocked and I keep crying — what's going on here? We never had any kind of a problem."
The incident started around 10 a.m. Friday, when police received a report of a "distraught" individual on the property, according to an RCMP news release Saturday.
Brar and her husband were running errands elsewhere and got stopped at a police barricade blocking 0 Avenue. Their nine-year-old daughter and two elderly parents were in the house at the time, Brar said.
"My daughter was crying and my parents didn't know what to do," she said in a phone interview.
She said a man who had rented space on the property to park his RV for roughly a decade — and who she believed to be in his late 60s — barricaded himself inside the barn. He had been living in the RV inside the barn, she said.
"The tenant who lives in that barn, I don't know what he did, or what he didn't do, but he just barricaded himself in the barn and then he didn't allow anybody to come in," she said. "Everybody was … shouting at him like, 'Open the door!'"
The RCMP said officers heard gunshots after they arrived on scene, and called for backup from the Integrated Emergency Response Team.
Brar's 14-year-old daughter, Ranvir, told CBC News she spoke to the tactical officers.
"I got to talk to the SWAT team," she said, "helping them translate everything.
"My little sister was in the house and my grandparents ... [It] was pretty scary for them."
The burned shells of multiple vehicles were still smouldering on the property on Saturday morning, according to video from the scene. Several undamaged police vehicles were also still nearby.
The incident unfolded in an area with several farms and wineries adjacent to the U.S.-Canada border, roughly 50 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
"A fire erupted and eventually engulfed the building," the RCMP stated on Saturday. "It is believed the individual did not exit the building and is believed to have perished in the blaze."
Police said on Saturday night that no remains had been recovered due to fire danger, but investigators believe the person died in the blaze. Neither the RCMP nor the B.C. Coroners Service responded to requests for comment Sunday.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. said it is now looking into police actions on the farm that day.
For the Brar family, the tragic incident has left them frightened.
"We are scared when I see everything is burned out," Sandeep Brar said. "Like so quickly, in just a few hours, you know? Everything is gone now."
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the police standoff at the farm lasted for 12 hours. In fact, according to RCMP, officers arrived at the farm around 4 p.m. and the fire at the barn occurred around 10 p.m.Nov 14, 2023 1:11 PM PT
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