British Columbia

Mounties arrest suspect after manhunt led to brief closure of UNBC campus in Prince George

On Tuesday around noon, the university locked down its campus out of an "abundance of caution" while the public was asked to avoid more than 30 kilometres of trails at Forests for the World and the UNBC Greenway.

UNBC locked down campus out of 'abundance of caution' to ensure campus security

The exterior of a campus.
UNBC has locked its doors at its Prince George campus due to the manhunt. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC)

The campus of the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George has reopened after a brief lockdown following the RCMP's arrest of a suspect in a vehicle theft that they were concerned could have been armed.

On Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. PT, the university announced the Mounties indicated the local police incident — as what the police described — had been resolved.

The university said it locked its doors around Tuesday noon "out of an abundance of caution" to ensure additional security for people on campus, and it was asking people not to come to campus until the situation was resolved.

The public was also being asked to avoid the UNBC Greenway and Forests for the World trails, which encompass over 30 kilometres of trail and more than 106 square kilometres of parkland.

Neither the police nor the university provided further details on the incident. The university said it will pass along more information about the incident once it becomes available.

RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cooper says the suspect was last seen wearing shorts with no shirt and had scratches on his face.

A police dog team and RCMP helicopter are aiding in the search.