Axe-wielding man scares customers at Prince Albert restaurant

By Nigel Maxwell

No physical injuries have been reported after a man walked into a Prince Albert Tim Hortons location with an axe.

The incident happened Sunday afternoon at the Cornerstone shopping centre around 4 p.m., at a time when both the drive-thru and inside seating area were full with customers.

Tammy Dunn, her husband and their two young children were about to pull into the drive-thru when they saw a man swinging a large axe.

“He was coming towards our car with the axe, with a really not very friendly face,” she told paNOW.

Dunn’s husband immediately pulled away and once he parked in a safe location, he called police. The man with the axe was then observed hitting a parked vehicle.

“That’s when my husband saw him enter the Tim Hortons and then within seconds after I called the police, they were already there. It was insane,” Dunn said.

Dunn posted a video of the incident on Facebook and it has been shared nearly 500 times. In the comment section, people claim to have seen the man being kicked out of two nearby businesses before he made his way to the Tim Hortons location.

“I’m just surprised nobody called the police because that was insane,” Dunn said, adding she was familiar with the man after seeing him living on the streets.

The owner of the store also expressed her concern about police not being called earlier, adding that while no one inside her business was threatened, the incident could have ended very differently.

The owner said the man was highly intoxicated while in the restaurant. The store’s security detail detained the man until police arrived, the owner said.

A spokesperson for the security company that looks after Cornerstone confirmed for paNOW the man is well known to their members and has been a regular problem.

When reached for comment, Prince Albert police could only confirm that a person was taken into custody.