A 37-year-old Merritt man has been charged after an attempted abduction of three 12-year-old girls at a local elementary school.

Merritt RCMP say the incident happened just after 9 p.m. at Diamond Vale Elementary, at the end of Coldwater Avenue.

Cpl. Brock Hedrick says the three young girls were reportedly assaulted and held against their will.

Hedrick says police were on scene within four minutes of being called.

A man was arrested, and police also seized a taser and a knife from the suspect.

Jamie Leighton Atwater now faces charges of assault with a weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and uttering threats.

Atwater has a relatively brief criminal history dating back 13 years. In 2007, was charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm for an incident in Wilmer, north of Invermere. And in 2009 he was charged for driving impaired and driving with a suspended license for an incident in Kamloops.