A dispute that saw a family flee into the street amid gunfire from their home Friday night has a Saskatoon man facing attempted murder charges.
Kevin Levandoski, 37, appeared in Saskatoon court Tuesday to face charges including three counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a weapon, and one count of assaulting a police officer. His next court appearance was set for Wednesday.
Police say a family dispute led to shots being fired as a woman fled a house on Coppermine Crescent in the River Heights neighbourhood last Friday. Others inside the house, including several children, also escaped and hid behind a parked car.
Shots were fired at police when officers arrived on the scene, and the police service’s armoured vehicle was brought in to help rescue family members hiding behind the parked car and to keep officers safe.
“Those people could have been injured or killed,” police spokesperson Alyson Edwards said Monday. “Passersby could have been injured or killed, our officers were fired at, our vehicles were damaged.
The armoured vehicle was damaged by bullets and police say the incident emphasizes the value of officer preparedness.
“This is really is an example of how important our training, how important our equipment, how important our vehicles and our specialized units really are," Edwards said. "When bullets are flying through the air out of a home and into the public realm it is a huge public safety issue - that goes without being said - and it's such a critical officer safety issue as well."
Police say they did not fire any shots at the house during the incident and the subsequent standoff with a man inside the home. The man surrendered to police after about three hours.
