*Edited to reflect corrected time of NBPS response to Morin Street incident.
In his five years as a member of the North Bay Police Service and in 40 years of policing, Police Chief Scott Tod said this past weekend was one of the busiest he has ever seen and he is proud of how they handled it.
"The weekend has been difficult for all of our members, our dispatchers, our special constables and that of emergency services workers in North Bay," observed Tod. "In my five years within North Bay, I've never seen a weekend like this past weekend with regards to crimes and investigations that had to occur within this community."
Tod led a news conference at NBPS headquarters Monday afternoon to break down a long list of violent criminal activity, including one homicide and two arson investigations. The hectic weekend for first responders spilled over into Monday as two gunshot victims were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Asked if there is cause for public concern after such a weekend, Tod responded, "I'm sure there is public fear. I can assure the public these incidents are isolated and unrelated to each other...There's no direct relationship between the weapons used, the criminals involved or the incidents in our community."
Tod shared that, in a 24-hour period, Saturday, there were 108 calls for service and he characterized his officers and staff as "tired."
He added, "Morale is high among the members in regards to the professionalism with which they responded to all of these incidents this weekend. It really tested the capacity and capabilities of our service and I'm glad to say our members responded admirably to that."
Friday evening, NBPS and emergency services responded to reports of a fire in an apartment building in the 1100 block of Ferguson Street. Tod says police responded, arrested and charged a 53-year-old male North Bay man with arson — disregard for human life.
"There were no deaths or serious injuries as a result of this incident," added Tod. "The individual charged remains in custody."
Around noon on Saturday, NBPS officers visited the site of a demonstration at the North Bay waterfront "in contravention of the Reopening Ontario Act," said Tod, "in order to maintain public safety for all involved. No charges have been laid at this time and the matter remains under investigation."
See original story: Over 100 join rally to protest COVID restrictions
Asked for more details on possible charges for rally organizers or participants, Tod clarified, "We have a number of ways we can address charges in relation to the rally. We could have laid provincial offences to those at the scene. We can also provide summonses to those involved and have them appear in court."
On Saturday night, NBPS responded to the city's second homicide of the year.
Monday afternoon, Police Chief Tod released the name of a man in custody in relation to the murder.
Just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to a report of a single-vehicle snowmobile collision which resulted in a 57-year-old North Bay man losing his life due to his injuries.
"This investigation also continues with the assistance of the Technical Traffic Collision Investigation Services from the Ontario Provincial Police," says Tod.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, police, fire and paramedics responded to a fire in a residence in the 400 block of Second Avenue West. "The fire was contained in the residence and extinguished. One adult male is in police custody," advises Tod. "Again, thankfully, no physical injuries were reported."
Although officially an OPP investigation, Tod also mentioned an incident later Sunday involving a traffic collision and attempt to flee the scene in the north end of the city. "It was another serious incident that occurred in our community this weekend," he said.
Then, this morning, Tod confirmed two men had been shot in the 600 block of Morin Street, in an incident that summoned police and the Emergency Response Team around 3 a.m.
"Two individuals were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries," said Tod. "One of these individuals is known to police at this time. There remains no threat to public safety as a result of this incident."
He later elaborated by saying the Morin Street incident is still under active investigation to "try to determine whether there are further suspects involved in that shooting."
Tod concluded the press conference with, "As all of these investigations are ongoing, I'm unable to provide further details."
