Haliburton Highlands OPP said on Feb. 12 they’d made an arrest, and seized a firearm, in connection with a Feb. 7 assault and robbery on Floralan Park Drive in Minden.
Last Wednesday night, police said their crime, community street crime, tactics and rescue units, and emergency response team, executed an arrest warrant for a wanted person at a residence in Minden Hills.
“The individual was located and arrested without incident and a firearm was seized,” provincial constable Michael Melnychuk said.
He added the suspect was charged with two counts of assault, two counts of choking, careless storage of a firearm and possession of a firearm without a licence.
Melnychuk said the person was held for a bail hearing and no further details will be provided “in order to protect the identity of the victim.” Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Feb. 9, on Parkside Street in the village, an apartment building at the corner of Bobcaygeon Road was surrounded by police vehicles with caution tape around the entrance throughout the day.
Sources stated paramedics treated a man who had been stabbed, before transferring him to Haliburton hospital, though police have not confirmed those details.
OPP say incidents unrelated
They did say on Feb. 11 that a warrant for arrest had been issued for 28-year-old Michael Gunn of Minden. He is suspected of robbery using firearm, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes in connection with the ongoing investigation in the township.
OPP said that last Friday, shortly after 4:30 a.m., they responded to an assault and residential robbery with a weapon on Parkside Street and the victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
They said Gunn “is believed to possess a weapon and is considered a potential threat to public safety. If seen, call 9-1-1 and do not approach.”
He is described as 6’1” (185 cm) with a thin build, short brown hair, light-brown partial beard, and blue eyes. He has a tattoo of the Canadian flag with a cross on the right forearm, and a tattoo of a female on the left forearm.
Business and residences in the area were being asked to check dashcam and security camera footage from early Friday morning for any suspicious activity.
Melnychuk indicated this incident had nothing to do with the police raid on Floralan Park Drive.
School in hold and secure
Meanwhile, Archie Stouffer Elementary School was in a hold and secure for much of the morning Feb. 9. Carolynne Bull, communications manager for Trillium Lakelands District School Board, sent an email to media at 10:36 a.m. confirming the school had been partially locked down as a precaution due to the robbery and assault.
In a hold and secure, exterior doors are locked, while students are not permitted to go outside and cannot be signed out, or picked up, by parents or guardians. Regular classroom routines and lessons continued through the hold and secure, which was lifted shortly after noon.
“A hold and secure is initiated when it is desirable to secure the school due to an ongoing situation outside the school and not necessarily related to the school,” Bull said.
She noted an email was sent to parents Friday afternoon informing them about the hold and secure and the protocols followed.
Melnychuk said investigators are asking anyone who has information on the incidents and has not yet reported it to police to contact Haliburton Highlands OPP at 705-286-1431, or the OPP provincial communications centre at 1-888-3101122. Information can also be provided anonymously by contacting Kawartha Haliburton Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477.
