Standoff suspect dies

Photo: Contributed

A court case against a senior citizen who held police at bay during a five-hour standoff in Vernon last April has come to an end.

A court official says the accused, Clifford Wilkinson, has died.

Wilkinson, in his early 70s at the time of his death, had been facing a number of firearms charges and one of uttering threats.

Police were called to the scene at Old Kamloops Road last spring, after a report of two neighbours involved in a confrontation.

The suspect refused to come out of his residence for police and a specialist emergency response team was called in to deal with the situation.