A man adorned in a hooded camouflage jacket and wearing latex gloves reached under his jacket while officers - guns drawn - stood 30 feet away.

Despite repeated warnings from police, the man pulled out a semiautomatic handgun. He did not fire, however.

Instead, much to the relief of police, the man threw the gun about 40 feet away and was arrested without further incident.

"Our officers showed remarkable restraint, and we are fortunate that this incident did not have tragic consequences," Langley's top Mountie, Supt. Derek Cooke said of the situation that unfolded in Aldergrove early Tuesday morning.

It started about 6 a.m. on July 10, when Langley RCMP received reports of a man with a handgun at a residence in the 3000 block of 271st Street.

Officers from the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team (ERT), as well as uniformed Langley Mounties, were reportedly on scene within seven minutes.

One man was immediately arrested. A second man - the one in camouflage - exited a duplex, and ignoring police commands, attempted to return inside.

The door he came out of, however, had locked behind him. So he "fled," trying to get inside a neighbour's home.

Unable to gain entry and ignoring police commands, he was surrounded.

That's when he pulled out the gun and discarded it, explained Insp. Doug Maynard, officer in charge of the ERT unit.

ERT approached the man and "took him into custody, averting a potentially deadly situation," Maynard elaborated.

The suspect was searched and a holster was located on his belt, along with tie straps in his pocket.

"The Lower Mainland District ERT was able to respond within seven minutes, allowing us, along with Langley RCMP, to take control of the escalating situation before anyone got hurt," Maynard said.

Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender, co-chair of the Lower Mainland RCMP Mayors Forum, spoke to the incident.

"This situation is an excellent example of why we have highly trained and skilled integrated units such as ERT on the road in our communities in the Lower Mainland, so they can quickly respond to events like this one and protect all our citizens," Fassbender said.

In the meantime, a 44-year-old Abbotsford man has been charged in connection with the incident. Charles Raymond Charlton was still in custody Thursday morning, facing charges of carrying a concealed weapon, unauthorized

possession of a firearm, and possession of a loaded, prohibited firearm without holding a registration certificate.

rhooper@langleyadvance.com