The man has since been arrested after he barricaded himself in the Walmart with a number of bladed weapons

Dozens of RCMP vehicles were spotted at the scene, with shoppers quickly evacuated from the Walmart

Witnesses say the police incident involved a man who was wielding a knife at the Walmart Richmond North Supercentre

RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – A man has been arrested after he barricaded himself inside a Walmart in Richmond, armed with several bladed weapons.

Corporal Dennis Hwang speaks for Richmond RCMP and says the call for help came at around 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon.

“We responded to a call of a distressed male located at one of the department stores in the Alderbridge Way and Garden City Road area of Richmond,” he says. “We discovered a male who was barricaded in the store with several weapons at his disposal, bladed weapons.”

He says a portion of the store was evacuated, and a number of surrounding areas were locked down.

“We cordoned off the area, evacuated a portion of the store itself,” he says. “We contacted the Emergency Response Team as well as police dog services to assist us as well as a crisis negotiator.”

Hwang says the man has since been arrested.

“We are happy to report that we have one male in custody at this time and the area surrounding the department store has been reopened.”

He says the motivations behind the man’s actions are still unclear at this time.

“It’s very early in the investigation, it was a really tense situation but we are thankful everyone is safe.”

No one was hurt during this incident.