TIMMINS

The armed standoff at the Canadian Tire store in Timmins never happened. After searching the store in the city’s West End on Wednesday, an OPP tactical team discovered that the suspect who broke into the store around 4:30 in the morning somehow disappeared from the store after the break-in was discovered.

The news was revealed Wednesday evening when police held a news conference to say that despite the overwhelming response from police officers, the suspect is still at large.

“What we can confirm is that the OPP Tactical Rescue Unit did a search of Canadian Tire using the canine unit and the TRU unit. No suspects or individuals were located inside the Canadian Tire building,” said Timmins Police communications coordinator Kate Cantin.

“At this time, the perimeter has been lifted. It is no longer believed that the suspect or individuals involved are currently in that area,” she said, referring to the fact police had blocked off a wide area around the Canadian Tire / Home Depot plaza, believing the suspect was either in the store, or somewhere nearby.

“Police have confirmed that the target of break-ins was firearms. It is unknown at this time how many firearms were taken,” Cantin continued.

“What happened? How is it that the suspect got away?” The Daily Press asked.

“It is likely the suspect exited the building at the beginning of the incident before police were able to contain the building. We don’t believe he exited the building when the containment was ongoing throughout the day,” Cantin told the gathering of reporters.

She said police believe the suspect somehow snuck away under the cover of darkness when the break in was first discovered early Wednesday.

She explained that the incident began with an alarm notification that was reported to police, but she could not describe how the suspect entered the store.

“Employees of the store attended and did notice that a break and enter had occurred, and contacted police,” said Cantin.

McGinn said police arrived on the scene at 4:22 a.m. and began a containment at that time.

“We believed he was still there. That’s why we did the containment, to ensure the officers’ safety and public safety,” said Timmins Police Inspector Mike McGinn.

McGinn said the surveillance video showed the suspect carrying a long gun inside the store, and based on that, it is believed the suspect stole either a rifle or shotgun. McGinn said there has not been an inventory carried out yet, so he could not be specific.

At this time, OPP are standing down and the investigation has been passed back to the Timmins Police Service, said Cantin.

Earlier in the day, scores of police officers responded to the call, believing the suspect was holed up in the building armed with a high-powered weapon, capable of shooting at police officers or members of the public at a much greater distance than with a handgun.

At a mid-afternoon news conference, McGinn said police had seen video of the suspect from cameras located in the store.

“We have been able to view the security video,” said McGinn. “The target of the break-in was firearms. And there are firearms that have been removed. Because of that there is a public safety concern,” he added.

“He has a long gun, but exactly what type we don’t know” said McGinn. Canadian Tire in Timmins sells a wide variety of hunting rifles and shotguns (known as long guns) as well as ammunition for those firearms.

“We have no indication of who that person is. We still believe that person is within our perimeter. Until we have done a search of that perimeter, we won’t be releasing that area,” said McGinn at the 2:00 p.m. news event.

Police blocked off Riverside Drive from Shirley Street through to Jaguar Drive, mainly to ensure no one took any sideroads that might place them anywhere near the Canadian Tire store, or within a line-of-sight for a high powered rifle.

Police could not say whether this armed man was connected in any way to the unproven reports of two murder suspects from Toronto, Clyde Marshall and Sabrina Chouart, being seen near Timmins.

“We cannot confirm any of that at all,” said McGinn, adding there is no information at all to connect the suspects to the current standoff. “We have no evidence of any connection,” he said.

McGinn also said he could not comment specifically on what the police plan might be for resolving the situation.

“That will be the responsibility of the Ontario Provincial Police commander that is here. But it will be to secure the area and ensure there is no threat,” he said in the afternoon.

When The Daily Press asked why Timmins Police called in the OPP for assistance, McGinn said it was because the OPP had more resources.

“We don’t have that level of resources, here. These are provincial resources that are available to us, and so when we realized there was an armed person within that perimeter we called for their assistance.

At one point during the day Wednesday, one of the two OPP helicopters that arrived in the city, went to the Timmins airport for fuel, and then flew to a location south of Timmins to bring in more OPP officers.