1 charged after bear spray discharged in Yellowknife apartment building

Several people were exposed to bear spray after it was discharged inside a Yellowknife apartment building early Wednesday.

RCMP have charged a Yellowknife man in connection with the incident at the Sunridge Place apartments on 51A Avenue in the middle of the night. The building had to be evacuated after several people inside a unit were sprayed.

"Additional calls were received about more residents being affected by the substance, including a woman having difficulty breathing," read a press release Wednesday afternoon from RCMP.

When first responders arrived, RCMP say several residents were in the parking lot "suffering the effects of bear spray"  and an unconscious woman was found on the first floor.

RCMP called it an "extremely difficult environment, as the entrance way and first floor were heavily contaminated with bear spray."

Cody Wood, who lives at Sunridge Place with his mother, says he hears fire alarms go off regularly inside the building.

"I just heard the fire alarm at, like, two in the morning and then there was firefighters, and then I heard some banging at the doors and so I went in the hallway," he said.

Wood said he didn't realize that it was bear spray until tenants were allowed back into their suites.

"I didn't notice until I got back inside, and then I was just coughing," he said.

In the end, no one required medical treatment. The fire department was called to use pressure fans to decontaminate the building.

RCMP have arrested and charged Cory Sarasin, 31 from Yellowknife, with five counts of assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, common nuisance causing injury, among others.