Police have asked people to avoid the area of Ginoogaming First Nation and those in the community to shelter in place as they search for two armed and dangerous individuals at large.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Anishinabek Police Service (APS) are responding, according to an OPP media release Wednesday around 6 a.m. ET.
The two suspects are described as Black males. OPP said one is taller than the other, and the taller male is wearing an all-grey jogging suit and has braided hair. The shorter male is wearing black pants and black shoes.
People in Ginoogaming are advised to seek shelter inside a building or another secure location. Once inside, police said to lock all doors and windows and close curtains.
Members of the public are asked to call 911 immediately if they see the suspects, and not to approach them.
Those driving should proceed to their location without making unnecessary stops. Police are saying not to pick up any hitchhikers on Highway 11 in the Longlac and Ginoogaming First Nation area.
“We recognize the significant emotional impact sheltering in place can cause. The OPP is taking every precaution necessary to resolve this situation,” the OPP release said.
Matthew Donovan, Greenstone deputy mayor and Nakina Ward councillor, said there are a “lot of concerned people” in the municipality.
“We do understand that this can be stressful to the public and we are certainly grateful and appreciate their cooperation in this situation,” he told CBC News on Wednesday.
He said the situation is not something the people of Greenstone are used to.
“It’s certainly a dose of the outside world,” he said. “It’s not anything that we’re used to experiencing up this way.”
“It’s a little bit of cold water in the face, that the rest of the world might be experiencing this a little bit more than we are.”
Donovan encouraged people to follow any OPP and APS directives, and stay as informed as they can through social media.
“And the municipality, of course, is here to assist in any way necessary,” Donovan said.
Some services, school closed
The Municipality of Greenstone closed some services Wednesday. They include the Friends of the North Daycare, the Seniors Centre and the Municipal Ward Office in Longlac, the municipality said in a Facebook post.
OPP also said all public and Catholic elementary schools in Longlac and Long Lake #58 First Nation are closed.
In a 7:30 a.m. Facebook post, Geraldton Composite High School said it remained open. “Out of an abundance of caution and in consultation with local authorities, transportation involving Longlac and Ginoogaming students is cancelled for today,” it said in the post.
B.A. Parker Public School in Geraldton told CBC it was still open on Wednesday.
Confederation College’s Longlac campus is also closed for the day, OPP said.
In an update Wednesday morning, OPP said an emergency alert issued for the town of Manitouwadge has been lifted.
Ginoogaming First Nation is just south of Longlac, approximately 300 km northeast of Thunder Bay.
Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
