WIKWEMIKONG, Ont. — A stay-at-home order has been lifted for the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island after a person believed to be armed and dangerous turned himself in.
The order had been in place since Tuesday as police searched for the man.
Chief Rachel Manitowabi says the man turned himself in “safely and peacefully” on Wednesday.
Manitowabi says the community is “very fortunate that no one was harmed.”
Ontario Provincial Police had issued an emergency alert Tuesday afternoon asking residents of the First Nation to stay inside, lock all doors and windows and notify police of any suspicious people.
Schools were closed Wednesday as the stay-at-home order had stretched into a second day, with students being given a mental health day.
Schools had been placed in a “hold and secure” on Tuesday based on advice from the Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service, but the education board later deemed the situation safe enough to dismiss all students for the day.
In a post on the Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service’s Facebook page, Chief Scott Cooper had said Tuesday that the person the OPP were searching for was not a threat to the public and that the community was advised to stay inside as a “safety and cautious measure.”
The provincial police force had not said why they believed the suspect is dangerous.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship
