THUNDER BAY — Three suspects in a shooting incident on Thunder Bay’s north side that sent two people to hospital Tuesday have been arrested on a bus near Sault Ste. Marie.
Officers with the OPP and the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service’s tactical unit took the three suspects, who are all from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), into custody mid-morning Wednesday after swarming an Ontario Northland bus.
A man and a woman who sustained serious gunshot wounds in the incident remained in hospital Wednesday afternoon, with the woman described as being in critical condition earlier in the day.
Thunder Bay police have said the shooting is believed to be connected to the illegal drug trade.
A video secured by SooToday shows police surrounding the bus in Heyden, north of Sault Ste. Marie.
One of the suspects was armed with a loaded gun and wearing body armour at the time, while another “threw a loaded firearm on the bus,” according to Thunder Bay Police Service Det. Sgt. Jason Rybak.
The bus is believed to have been carrying nine passengers at the time, including the suspects, who are now being transported back to Thunder Bay with OPP assistance.
Police have not yet released the names and charges faced by the three suspects.
Ryback said the suspects “are refusing to identify themselves,” but police are aware of the identity of at least one, who he said had been charged in connection with a previous offence in Thunder Bay and was under a release order not to be in the city.
Information provided by the public was crucial in making the arrests, police said.
“Through video surveillance we got from members of the public, we were able to track the individuals getting onto a Northland bus, and through the assistance of other community members, we were able to track the bus,” said Rybak.
The incident happened in the 200 block of Ambrose Street just before 10:30 on Tuesday night.
Officers responding to a 911 call initially found a female victim with serious gunshot injuries. A short time later, a male victim was found in the parking lot of the nearby Gateway Casino.
Both people were taken to hospital by ambulance. One of the victims is from the city of Thunder Bay and the other from the surrounding region, police said.
Rybak said early evidence indicated the situation was connected to the illegal drug trade.
“We’re still really in the infancy of this [investigation] and looking at why this occurred,” he said. “The initial information is that these were individuals who weren’t really welcome in the home.”
“I would suggest it’s along the home takeover lines. Our investigation will show that, but it’s the same story we’ve talked about regarding these GTA traffickers.”
Rybak also previously said the violence was “isolated in nature and contained to the residents and the people involved in the illicit drug trade.”
Police are also in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the Ambrose Street residence, which Rybak said could take up to a couple of days.
Rybak reiterated the concerns of police surrounding the number of violent incidents involving firearms and the drug trade in Thunder Bay.
"My officers are becoming experts in these investigations now unfortunately," he said. "Our chief has been very vocal about firearms in our community. We need to do something collectively to resolve this. Obviously, we need help from the federal government, provincial government, we are dealing with massive issues in this community and I’m not sure the police can handle it alone."
Thunder Bay city council recently passed a motion to advocate for more supports from the province in addressing the ongoing opioid crisis and illicit drug trade, including calls for the decriminalization of simple drug possession.
Rybak said he could not comment specifically on any decriminalization policies but added that from a policing perspective, the focus is largely on drug traffickers as opposed to the end users.
"Our goal is to stop the people who are causing the harm in our community and these are the drug dealers coming in from southern Ontario and across Canada," he said. "They know the lucrative market in thunder bay and they are taking advantage of our folks here and we need to be involved to stop that."
