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Nova Scotia’s police watchdog is investigating a shooting early Thursday morning on the South Shore near the community of Chelsea.
RCMP say at approximately 9 a.m. they responded to a report of a person with a weapon on Highway 210 near Chelsea, about 20 kilometres west of Bridgewater.
RCMP referred the matter to the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) after an officer fired their gun and wounded a man they had been searching for. In a news release, RCMP said officers administered first aid on the scene.
The incident started Wednesday night when police issued an emergency alert around 6 p.m., telling people in Queens and Lunenburg counties to stay away from Highway 210 in the Chelsea area, to shelter in place and not pick up any hitchhikers.
The alert said there was a suspicious person, potentially carrying a weapon. They described the suspect as a man in his 30s, about six feet tall with dark hair and a beard. He was wearing a brown bandana and pants, a grey shirt and black satchel.
The alert was cancelled late Wednesday night. When asked why the alert was cancelled when the man was still at large, an RCMP spokesperson said Thursday that alerts can be cancelled or updated at any time “as more information is received or the situation changes.”
‘I could see the rifle,’ witness says
Brian Meyer was on his way home from work on Thursday morning when he spotted the suspect on Highway 210 near Chelsea.
“I could tell it was him because I could see the rifle,” Meyer told CBC News. “He locked eyes with me and then I put my head down and took off so I could get around the corner to call 911.”
Meyer said he wasn’t expecting a run-in with the suspect because the alert was cancelled and the police had said there was no risk to the public in the area. He said he went to work that night, leaving his family at home thinking the threat was over.
“I just don’t see why they would call that off if they didn’t have any proof that he left the area and they didn’t catch him. They didn’t say they caught him or didn’t catch him, so they’re just vague with their information,” he said.
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