The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) had 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.
Updated yesterday 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 was now secure and that “the confined citizens [pouvaient] 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 had been trying to find him since, and they had confirmation later that the suspect was armed, “hence the decision to trigger the alert for an imminent threat”.
However, no injuries were reported at the time of this writing.
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