National Post (National Edition)
Montreal police say `no threat' identified in major operation
Incident spurs lockdown at Ubisoft
Montreal police said Friday evening that they still don't know the nature of the event that led to a major operation in a neighbourhood north of downtown.
Police carried out an operation in the building that houses Ubisoft's offices after a 911 call reporting an armed robbery, but no injuries have been reported.
“It is still not confirmed as to the nature of the event,” said Montreal police spokesperson Véronique Comtois. “We have had some evacuations, which are still in progress. The people evacuated will be placed in buses so they can warm up. There will be social service employees made available to them, should they need it.
“The operation is still in progress. The nature of the event is still on confirmed. We are still doing validations.”
There are no injuries reported and police said no threat has been identified. “The nature of the event is not confirmed, because the operation is not over. We still have things to verify,” Comtois said.
Rumours circulated earlier of a hostage taking. Police tactical squad members were seen at the scene, including officers with assault rifles. Officers in gas masks and with tactical gear entered the building soon after 4 p.m.
One Ubisoft employee told the Gazette around 3:20 p.m. he was barricaded inside a room with coworkers, and police were there sweeping the building.
“We were told there was a hostage situation and to stay put,” he said. “We decided to go in a meeting room and barricade it.”
An Ubisoft employee, Eric Pope, tweeted a screen grab from LCN's footage of people
gathered on a rooftop.
“This is insane. This is my team on the roof,” Pope wrote in the tweet. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a senior community developer at Ubisoft Montreal. Pope did not respond to a request for comment.
Ubisoft staff on the roof of the Mile End building used furniture to barricade the doors.
Another Ubisoft employee told CTV News that employees at the office were instructed via a company memo to hide in an area that locks and to keep quiet.
Meet Patel, 24, who lives near the Ubisoft office, was hanging out with a friend when they saw police rapidly begin congregating around the building.
As officers with guns gathered at the front of the building, he and his friend watched people move to the rooftop of the Ubisoft building.
“In the beginning we were super scared not knowing what's going on,” Patel said.
Starting at 3:30 p.m., dozens of people were escorted in groups from the building by police. As they walked, one woman raised her arms in relief and victory.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said her team is following the situation closely and is in communication with police.
An Urgences Santé spokesperson said they received a call about 2 p.m. concerning a police operation at Ubisoft.
“We deployed our paramedic supervisor and our medical tactical team to the scene to help out with the SPVM,” said Valérie Tremblay.
Ubisoft Montreal has been in teleworking mode since the pandemic began, which means most employees work from home. About 4,000 people normally work at the studio, but only about 200 were in the building on Friday.
Paul Desbaillets, a partner in the Bishop & Bagg pub, said he saw police flock to the building down the street that houses Ubisoft employees.
“I've never seen this many cops roll out quickly, block off streets and start running down the street,” Desbaillets told the Montreal Gazette by telephone.
“I also see a lot of ambulances so I hope everybody is OK. It could just be procedure.”
The fact Ubisoft produces first-person shooter games such as Rainbow Six Siege makes the hostage situation even more jarring, Desbaillets said.
“It's insane. It's almost surreal.”
A spokesman for Ubisoft said the company was aware of the situation and was working with local authorities.