12:35 a.m. Ontario Provincial Police Release HILTON BEACH, ON - On June 20, 2015 at 9 a.m. officers from the Thessalon Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a call to a residence on Maple Street in Hilton Beach on St.
12:35 a.m. Ontario Provincial Police Release
HILTON BEACH, ON - On June 20, 2015 at 9 a.m. officers from the Thessalon Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a call to a residence on Maple Street in Hilton Beach on St. Joseph Island.
At this time, members of the OPP are continuing to investigate and want to advise the public that the scene is contained and there are no public safety concerns for people in the area.
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7:40 p.m. Ontario Provincial Police Release
BLIND RIVER, ON - On June 20, 2015 at 9 a.m. officers from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Thessalon Detachment, received a call at a residence on Maple Street in Hilton Beach on St Joseph Island.
Members of the OPP are continuing their investigation.
The OPP advises that there are no public safety concerns for people in the area.
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7:26 update
Just before 5 p.m., five OPP vehicles were parked at the Hilton Village municipal parking area.
At that time, one officer stood outside the door dressed in fatigues.
The number of vehicles increased to nine 40 minutes later.
Three cruisers had Maple Street blocked, two blocked Second Street and one on Third Street.
At 5:35 p.m., two officers and a dog were seen crossing a piece of property along Highway 548 near Third Street.
Original story: 4:25
As of 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon, five police vehicles are on the scene at a home in Hilton Beach.
About 10 a.m., the first police cars arrived to a home on Maple Street.
Two officers were seen leaving their vehicles and walking up the road.
“I heard a ‘click, click’, said Julie Moore who was having coffee. “My first thought, there was a bear.”
Those officers then walked up the road.
As many as six police vehicles arrived to the quiet community, closing off roadways and some residents were asked to leave their homes.
Moore said police made them aware they may be asked to leave, but were not being asked to do so at that time.
Police were reportedly seen with long guns standing in the bush near a Maple Street home.
Shortly after after 3, police advised Moore and her family not to leave their home and if need be, travel in the opposite direction of the scene.
Initially, Moore said she didn’t know what was going on.
“It kind of freaked us out,” she said.
Several emergency response vehicles, including an ambulance and police cruisers, were seen coming and going throughout the afternoon.
The ambulance was seen at one point parked at the Waterfront Centre returning shortly after 1 p.m. to Maple Street then left.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Moore explained.
Moore said she saw an officer with papers in hand met by another who then turned and walked up the road.
Melissa Fleming and her family were asked to leave.
“We never asked what was going on, we just left,” Fleming said.
In a telephone interview from Thessalon where the family spent the day, Fleming said police told her to leave for a few hours and was given a telephone number to call before returning.
Fleming said there were police present, some with guns while others were parked in cars or on the road.
“My first concern was the safety of my family,” she said.
As she was leaving St. Joseph Island she met more cars coming onto the Island.
SooToday will have more on this developing story later.
