Over 16 officers respond to what appeared to be a man with a rifle atop an Abbotsford building | Fraser Valley Today

[u/airchinapilot]

https://fraservalleytoday.ca/2026/09/01/over-16-officers-respond-what-appeared-to-be-a-man-with-a-rifle-atop-an-abbotsford-building/

TL/DR: the man was an employee of a pest control company doing bird control work using an air rifle.

[u/Lumindan]

Police subsequently determined the man was an employee of a pest control company doing bird control work using an air rifle. While notices had been posted within the apartment building to inform residents of the activity, no notification had been provided to neighbouring businesses, residents, or members of the public in the surrounding area.

I do question how much notice needs to be given and how far of a range, is it just one building over? Is it the whole block? Would they need a notice of project or something from the city?

[u/looloopklopm → u/Lumindan]

The thing about the public is that even if they notified everyone who it made sense to notify, 90 percent of people wouldn't read it. The 10 percent that do would misunderstand or forget by the time the actual thing happens.

Source: I work with the public

This guy needs a big helium balloon attached to him that says "it's ok I'm allowed to do this"

[u/airchinapilot → u/looloopklopm]

This guy needs a big helium balloon attached to him that says "it's ok I'm allowed to do this"

At least maybe he shouldn't have been wearing black tactical. A high viz vest might have helped too

Seriously:

• Permits, clearances with city and law enforcement
• notices, speaking to managers of all surrounding buildings
• Placards or sandwich boards on sidewalks
• Assistants on the ground level

Basically what film productions do. That said, smaller operations wouldn't be able to handle this

[u/bobotea → u/airchinapilot]

from the picture i thought high viz would have been smart choice as well

[u/PatsNeg-CH → u/airchinapilot]

Pre-work notification of local LE would work, they could just have a bulletin up in their 911 call centre that says any reports of a guy with a gun at X location are likely such and such company doing such and such work.

I used to work in a big city that had rural outskirts areas and our dispatchers would send out messages after local farmers would call in and say they were going to be shooting ducks/geese out on their property, just as a heads up in case some clueless dipshit gets freaked out so it won’t cause a full tactical rollout lol

[u/randomn49er → u/airchinapilot]

Ain't no one paying for what that would cost to remove a few nuisance birds. 

[u/CallousDisregard13 → u/Lumindan]

Would they need a notice of project or something from the city?

Im thinking something along those lines would make sense. And atleast park your pest control vehicle out front with some plastic folding signs saying something like "Air rifle pest control in progress". As well as letting the police know so they can get 911 operators to inform callers thinking its an active shooter.

[u/Winnapig → u/Lumindan]

When I did that work, we called police non-emergency so any 9-1-1 calls would be filtered out. Seems pretty obvious.

[u/MacintoshEddie → u/Lumindan]

At least in the case of films with exterior firearm props we pretty often will provide notice like 2+ blocks away to cover the bases with anyone reasonably close enough to see. Then we post notice boards at intersections, and almost always will have hiviz people standing around outside to inform people.

For this company not to do that is pretty irresponsible. Plus I'm amazed they'd use an airgun that close to other buildings, especially without people on the ground to control pedestrian access.

Plus that dude doesn't seem to have any kind of fall prevention equipment on, which is almost always required for elevated work.

Just all kinds of things done wrong and lazy.

[u/JE1324]

Seems to me like the best course of action in these cases is to give the relevant information to the police so if somebody reports it they can say "It is a licensed individual engaging in pest control activities".

You can't inform the public. The public is largely un-informable (idiots).

[u/GuySavardy]

Also, WBC is ok with him having no fall protection while walking on a roof?

Must have been an exciting experience 😂.

[u/PizzaExisting9878 → u/GuySavardy]

Duration, roof slope, distance to edge all get factored in. There are exceptions.

[u/Significant_Meal9518]

This has been recorded as a gun crime for the stats

[u/Sad-Stop-2401 → u/Significant_Meal9518]

Legally, he was using a firearm or a gun. That being said, i do not know if persecutor will charge him for crime.

PS : Funny tangent. If what he held in his hand was a non-firearm airgun (ie an airgun that is too weak to cause any injury), he would be actually committing a crime in Canada.

Canadian gun laws are really really really stupid and nutty.

[u/TrulyMagnificient]

Easily solved with a fluorescent orange vest and a yellow hard hat. Maybe a clipboard for good measure. Everyone would just ignore him then.

[u/Dartmouth-Hermit]

Honestly, the company really should have reached out to the local police and let them know what was happening.

[u/ItchYouCannotReach → u/Dartmouth-Hermit]

A village near me does this every year and they always call the detachment the day before and the day of the work. 

[u/Altruistic_Split9447]

Clearly an assault style air rifle

[u/NeoNova9]

You cant clean a gun on your roof now?

[u/MourningWood1942]

Probably a dang heckin fun job though

[u/LegitBiscuit]

Dale gribble?

[u/BeerGunsMusicFood]

Well that was a foolish thing to do. Probably a lot of fun, but maybe not the best pest control option.