The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) warned the population earlier Friday that an armed and dangerous suspect was in Saint-Elzéar-de-Bonaventure, in Gaspésie. He was found in the area in question later that evening.
Posted at 3:50 p.m.
Updated at 10:12 p.m.
The investigation is ongoing and the suspect will be met by investigators, said the SQ.
The police force affirmed that the sector is now secure and that “confined citizens can come out of their shelter”.
“Avoid the area,” read the Public Safety emergency alert. “In the targeted area: shelter indoors, lock doors, stay away from windows, follow the directives of local authorities. »
“Armed suspect at the corner of chemin Central / Rte de l’Est”, tweeted the SQ around 3:30 p.m. before publishing a description and a photo of the suspect.
The intervention began Friday morning when the individual “in crisis” “left his residence on foot in the direction of a wooded area, in the Chemin Central sector,” said SQ spokesperson Stéphane Tremblay. The police have been trying to locate him since, and they later confirmed that the suspect is armed, “hence the decision to raise the alert for an imminent threat”.
However, no injuries have been reported so far.
Agent Tremblay clarified that “normally, the alert should have been sent to the Saint-Elzéar-de-Bonaventure sector, but it was heard on a larger scale”, which was “unwanted”.
“Checks are underway to determine the causes of this problem,” the SQ later said on Twitter.
With The Canadian Press