RCMP OFFICERS have surrounded a house in the 4600 block of Scott this morning, fearing that the one person they know who is inside may be armed.
The person, believed to be a woman, broke into the home at 5:30 am, awakening the home's lone female occupant who was able to leave and call police, says Terrace RCMP Constable Angela Rabut.
"We know there is a rifle [inside]," said Rabut. "The homeowner has told us. It is secure."
Still, officers are keeping spectators well back from the green-coloured home on the north side of the street.
"At this point we're treating the situation as if that person was armed," said Rabut.
Members of the RCMP's northwest Emergency Response Team arrived around 8:30 am. Also at the location is a police dog and the RCMP's large blue incident command van.
Early on, as many as eight police vehicles were at the location.
Residents making inquiries were told to stay inside.
Rabut said the person who was in the house was unharmed.
"She's out and she's OK," said Rabut.
Also at the location is an ambulance.
The same block was the location of another stand off, this time in early summer 2010, when a distraught man barricaded himself inside his home.
That incident, which began in the morning, lasted nearly 12 hours until police subdued the individual. He was taken to Mills Memorial Hospital for care.
The Suwilaawks Community School, just metres from the location, remains open but students walking to class along Sparks were steered to the other side of the street away from the 4600 block of Scott.
"The school is open and locked down," said school board chair Art Erasmus. "We're keeping the kids safe."