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Ottawa police say officers armed with rifles tackled and arrested an armed man who was accosting people at a local mall Sunday, during the peak of pre-Christmas shopping.

Police safely arrested and disarmed the man, who has not been identified, at Billings Bridge Shopping Centre after the incident at the mall and nearby McDonald’s restaurant around 5 p.m. A firearm was recovered.

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No shots were fired and no one was hurt, said police, who reported they issued an alert about the arrest “to allay any public concern.”

The incident began with a dispute between two people near the mall, then the suspect made his way to the shopping centre, police said.

There he’s alleged to have told a number of people he had a firearm on him and showed it to a number of people while threatening them.

A store employee called 911 to say he saw a firearm on the person, sparking the police response.

“Obviously a number of people in the mall were quite frightened seeing five or 10 police officers tackling a person and not knowing what happened,” Sgt. Peter Van Der Zander said.