Heard that the border agents are on strike in Canada. Easy to get accross into the U.S.A. but not from U.S.A. into Canada.
Peace Arch border crossing closed at report of armed man
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BLAINE, Wash. -- A report than an armed and dangerous man might be headed north to the U.S.-Canada border prompted a temporary closure of the busy Peace Arch border crossing late Friday afternoon, causing traffic backups.
By early evening, several lanes were open at the nearby Pacific Highway border crossing for trucks, said Faith St. John, a Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman.
She said border booths in the area were closed at about 4:30 p.m. after her agency received an alert about an armed and dangerous man "from our counterparts in the United States." She had no details about the armed man or precisely which U.S. agency had provided the warning.
At that point, an undetermined number of Canadian border agents, who are unarmed, left their posts at both the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings, as they are allowed to do if they perceive a threat of imminent danger.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police responded to the border crossing, as did border agency managers, St. John said.
Mike Milne, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, said he could not confirm or deny reports that officials are looking for a possibly armed person.
The Peace Arch crossing on Interstate 5 is about 100 miles north of Seattle.
The latest closure came after the border was closed on Jan. 24 because of an incident in which police chased two men to the Peace Arch crossing from the U.S. side and shot and wounded one of them. The two men had been sought in a homicide case in California, and were arrested.
In that case, several Canadian border agents left their posts because of what they perceived as imminent danger.
A week before that, the border was closed because of a man acting erratically while heading into Canada. Several guns were found in his car, but officials said they believed the man was mentally disturbed rather than dangerous.
The Pacific Highway crossing also remained open in both of those incidents.
.........This Space For Rent.........
United States
