Hotel locked down

VANCOUVER—A police incident in downtown Vancouver caused serious traffic disruptions and confined the guests of an upscale waterfront hotel to their rooms early this morning.
Officers were called to the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel around 2:30 a.m. when a man with a gun walked in, showed his weapon, and then sat down and waited.

“To the best of my knowledge, the man walked in, he wasn’t threatening anybody with the gun and he hadn’t pointed it at anybody, and he’s been holding it at his side,” police department spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham said.
“He entered an area that is a common lounge area of the hotel that was unoccupied at the time.
“The man has since stayed in that area and . . . police have been there negotiating with the man attempting to determine what it is that he wants.”
No shots had been fired and no one had been hurt, but police were taking no chances—diverting pedestrians and vehicles from around the hotel while telling hotel guests to remain in their rooms.
“Our primary concern is the safety of the hotel guests as well as the staff,” said Fincham.
“We want to do the best we can to have a safe resolution to this for all parties involved.”
The man, believed to be in his 20s, had made no demands except to ask for a glass of water during the early hours of the stand-off.
The Fairmont Pacific Rim is a 377-room hotel and condominium tower overlooking Vancouver’s Canada Place complex, which includes the provincial government cabinet offices, busy walkways, a major convention centre, and seaplane terminal.