What we know about alleged Ontario cottage country killer and why police said threat has passed
'Was the gun left there, so they're not worried about him having a gun? Do they know he had only one gun? But that doesn't mean he couldn't get more guns. Doesn't mean he doesn't have a knife or an axe. I just find the whole thing bizarre,' the source said, adding that the incident, on the surface, has eerie echoes of Gabriel Wortman, the serial killer behind a devastating gun rampage in Portapique, N.S., in 2020, Canada's deadliest mass killing. Wortman, who posed as an RCMP officer with a uniform and mocked up cruiser, killed 22 people; 13 were shot, and nine died in house fires.
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In the Wortman case, police 'kept finding more and more bodies, and people were hearing gunshots in neighbour's houses,' the source said. Gray, the suspect in the Bracebridge homicides, 'has just gone quiet since this occurred,' the source said.
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'It's not like Portapique. But it's still weird. I'd be really interested to know what their thinking was when the dust settles on this.'
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In a statement to National Post, an OPP spokesperson said the shelter in place order was initiated as a precaution while officers searched the area.
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'It was lifted when the suspect was not found to be in the area,' Sgt. Joe Brisebois, of the OPP's Central Region headquarters, wrote. 'We never believed there were any threat to public safety since the incident was between individuals that were known to each other.'
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The OPP 'recognizes that major police operations can be concerning for those who live, work or travel in the area,' he said. 'We understand the importance of keeping the public informed about police activity in their communities.'
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Emergency alerts related to police are reserved for situations involving 'an ongoing, urgent and significant threat to life that is neither isolated nor contained,' Brisebois said.
'Although the operation was active, it remained isolated and confined to a specific area under police control. As such, it did not meet the criteria for a broadcast intrusive emergency alert,' he said.
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'While we were not authorized to issue a broadcast alert, the OPP shared timely updates with the public through social media and media releases,' Brisebois added.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, Gray remained 'outstanding,' he said, and the search was continuing. 'We ask that anyone with information about this incident or his whereabouts to contact police or Crime Stoppers.'
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On his Facebook page, last updated in April 2019, Gray described himself as a mechanic at Bracebridge Yamaha, but he hasn't worked there since 2017. 'It was before my time and actually the guys here never worked with him, either. The new owners never met him,' said service advisor Greg Williams.
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'I was a bit shocked, to have that up here. Don't usually get that stuff up here,' he said.
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It could take weeks to identify the two bodies found inside the house gutted by fire. 'Until the fire cooled off and they could get in there, they wouldn't even know that there were more bodies inside,' the law enforcement source said.
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