The Ontario Provincial Police say six suspects have been arrested following an armed home invasion that shut down a major highway in Ontario’s cottage country on Tuesday.
The OPP said they were called to a home in the Hillside East area, east of Huntsville, Ont., at around 5 a.m. on Canada Day for reports of a home invasion.
“As the situation developed, the investigation extended beyond the original location, prompting the closure of Highway 11 in both directions,” police said.
The closure spanned the highway between Severn River Road and Coopers Falls Road, and between Canning Road and Graham Road.
The highway has since reopened.
A hold and secure order was issued, asking people to avoid the area and stay indoors. Commuters stuck in the closed area were told to stay in their vehicles, OPP said.
Global News spoke to one resident, who came outside to see Highway 11 shut down.
“I just figured it was an accident, that’s quite frequent around here,” Scott Graves said.
He said he also got a knock on his door from police.
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“He said that we need you to make sure to lock your doors,” Graves said. “There’s a shelter-in-place order. We have possibly four or five suspects, armed with handguns, in the area.”
“You start thinking, well are my windows and my basement secured. Your mind starts to go into that mode.”
The warning lasted for hours on Tuesday.
After the investigation, OPP said six suspects — five men in their 20s and one 16-year-old — were taken into custody.
The six suspects are facing numerous charges including robbery, kidnapping, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, theft of a motor vehicle, among other charges. The accused are from different parts of the GTA including Toronto, Ajax, Oshawa, Brampton and Mississauga.
OPP said investigators believe there are additional suspects who remain at large, along with a silver Honda CR-V with an Ontario licence plate of CZFE 895.
“The OPP urges the public to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activity to police,” the OPP said.
People wait in their cars for hours on Highway 11
Nancy Turley said the decision to keep people waiting in their cars for hours on a stretch of Highway 11 was far riskier than letting them go because it could have led to a hostage situation during the manhunt.
“I thought it was a little bit ridiculous because if, in fact, these (suspects) are running around with guns like we were told and (police) were trying to catch them, I think the drivers were far more at risk just sitting there for four hours in their cars,” she said.
She initially thought there was an accident but then found out a manhunt was underway after she called her husband and her son searched online to find out what was happening in the area.
“We were really in the dark and nobody came and told us what was going on,” she said. “We were supposed to shelter in place and if you were in your car, to stay in your car with your doors locked, which I thought was a little bit bizarre.”
Turley said she and other people started getting out of their vehicles after a while to chat since the internet connection on that part of the highway wasn’t good enough to check the latest news online and they didn’t want to run their cars for four hours.
“When they finally let us go through, you could see where everything had happened, where the suspect’s car was off in the ditch and the doors were wide open and there was all sorts of mess on the road and skid marks,” she said, adding that it was “unnerving” to see a police officer with an automatic weapon.
— with files from Global News’ Sean O’Shea and The Canadian Press
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