A local couple had a close encounter with the suspect during Tuesday's manhunt in Portage la Prairie.

Chris Hays' phone tip may have been the information the RCMP needed to end the tense situation. He says a series of crazy events led up to him being in the right place at the right time.

"My wife and I were just heading by the Sun and Snow compound after we had just passed by a police barricade, and a guy comes out of the bushes waving his arms," says Hays. "I said to the wife, 'There he is!' I sized up the guy but didn't know if he was still carrying a weapon, and my wife told me to call the cops. So, I did."

Chris Hays called in the tip that led to the suspect's arrest Tuesday in Portage. (Submitted Photo)

Hays says his first instinct was to leave the situation alone, and he's glad he didn't.

"Normally, I would mind my own business. But when you have someone putting people in danger you want them off the streets. It was a chain of events that had me going by at the right time. If my wife's school wasn't in lockdown, we wouldn't have been there."

He adds tactical flew by his work shortly after the call, and he was impressed by their quick response to the tip. He was also impressed by the work the city had done to protect children at schools.