Ontario Provincial Police are taking aim at the authors of an April Fool’s article that claimed dozens of its officers were arrested.
The OPP said Wednesday the article also falsely claimed a state of emergency was declared in Huron County and that the policing responsibility for the community has been assumed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
It added the article erroneously stated the force’s detachment commander, five senior officers and 21 uniformed members were arrested.
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“While today is April 1, and the article may be intended as an April Fools’ joke, the OPP considers this type of content to be inappropriate and irresponsible, particularly when it mimics legitimate news reporting with the potential to cause unnecessary concern in the community,” the OPP said in a news release.
“Alleging police officers have been charged affects public trust and confidence, as well as public safety.”
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The OPP went added content presented as humour can have real-world consequences.
“To be clear, no state of emergency has been declared in Huron County,” the force said.
“No OPP or municipal council members have been arrested and the RCMP has not assumed control of OPP operations. The OPP continues to provide policing services in Huron County without interruption.”
Ontario Provincial Police say officers are looking for “multiple people” accused of climbing the boards at a hockey rink, taking their shirts off and breaking the glass.
OPP said that on March 26, a hockey team was playing a game at the Muskoka Lumber Community Centre in Bracebridge when a group of youth and young adult fans climbed the boards between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
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When they were reportedly atop the boards, they apparently rocked the glass until it broke. Some involved reportedly pulled off their shirts and were waving them around in the air.
“The conduct of this group of spectators was unacceptable and caused significant damage to the glass and supports,” police said in a news release.
“Multiple people were recording this incident, and police are aware that many of those videos are circulating online.”
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The OPP did not provide a description of the individuals they’re looking for.
An investigation is underway.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
Police have put up a billboard outside an Ontario town in a bid to crack a now two-year-old homicide investigation.
Ontario Provincial Police said Monday that it installed the billboard on County Road 9 facing southwest at County Road 11, just west of Orangeville, as the anniversary of David Robson’s death arrives.
Robson, 65, was found dead on April 1, 2024, around Chinguacousy Road and King Street in the Town of Caledon. A post-mortem examination conducted a day later determined his cause of death was homicide.
Robson, a resident of Melancthon, Ont., had been reported missing on March 21 that year.
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His vehicle, a 2017 black Kia Sportage with Ontario licence plate DAMZ 252, has never been found.
“Investigators are urging anyone with information about the whereabouts of the vehicle to contact police to support the ongoing investigation,” police said in the release.
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The billboard police have installed features a stock picture of the vehicle and Robson’s photo.
“We hope the billboard prompts anyone passing through the area to recall some information about David Robson or the location of his vehicle,” Det.-Insp. Mark Allison said.
“We want to understand what happened to David and provide the answers his loved ones have been waiting for over the past two years.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
An OPP billboard is shown in this undated handout photo. OPP are renewing pleas in the case of David Robson, whose body was found on April 1, 2024 in Caledon.
A trial date has been set for an Ontario man facing 12 charges in connection with a fatal May long weekend boat crash two years ago.
Riley Orr, Juliette Cote and Kaila Bearman died on May 18, 2024, after a speedboat collided with a fishing boat on Bobs Lake, which is just north of Kingston.
The collision occurred just after 9:30 p.m. that day. Orr, Cote and Bearman, who were all between the ages of 21 and 23, died at the scene. Five other people, ranging in age from 21 to 44, were injured and taken to hospital.
Recordings of emergency dispatches posted online shortly after the crash revealed a chaotic scene as paramedics, police, and firefighters raced to the area.
“OPP and ambulance are reporting two boats have crashed. They can hear people screaming for help,” a dispatcher from South Frontenac Fire and Rescue said around 9:45 p.m. May 18.
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Around 10:10 p.m., first responders found most of the crash victims wedged together on the boats next to a concrete dock near a few cottages.
Two people were without vital signs, while another was in and out of consciousness, a firefighter told dispatch.
Deadly boat collision near Kingston, Ont., leaves 3 dead, 5 injured over long weekend
The crash occurred on a narrow channel that connects Bobs Lake and Buck Bay. Area resident Tony Hammond told Global News at the time that he saw a group of young people listening to music on board a boat, which wasn’t far from its dock, when he heard another boat approaching.
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Everything happened so fast that he said he did not have time to react.
“I was just hoping not to hear the crunch, and then I heard the crunch,” he said.
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“Before any of the actual first responders [arrived], everyone was doing what they could. There’s no way to describe it, except that anyone who ever hears it knows that sound is go time.”
Five months after the collision, Ontario Provincial Police arrested and charged Matthew Splinter of South Frontenac Township.
He was charged with three counts each of dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death, dangerous operation of a conveyance causing bodily harm, impaired operation causing death and impaired operation causing bodily harm.
2nd man facing charges in deadly Ontario boat crash
Another South Frontenac Township man was also charged under the Canada Shipping Act with failing to exhibit a stern light on a power-driven vessel underway, failing to exhibit sidelights on a power-driven vessel underway and operating a non-human-powered pleasure craft without a personal flotation device or life-jacket of appropriate size for each person on board.
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The OPP did not release his identity when it announced the charges.
Det. Insp. Marty McConnell told reporters on Oct. 30, 2024 that investigations like these are “very complex.”
“They require a great deal of resources, and tragically, three lives were lost that day and serious injuries,” he said.
“With the resources involved in this, I wanted to ensure that a fulsome and fair investigation was brought forward to the courts.”
He also thanked the community for their actions that night.
“So many local residents and cottagers ran to assist the victims after the collision and offered support afterwards,” he said.
“I also want to thank those that came forward to share information and assist our investigators.”
Splinter’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 5, 2027.
Ontario Provincial Police are joining the hunt for a murder suspect after a woman was stabbed to death while leaving a home earlier this month.
At roughly 9:30 p.m. March 3, police in LaSalle, Ont., were called to a home on Todd Lane, near Malden Road, for reports of an individual in distress.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a woman suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was taken to hospital, where she later died.
Investigators later learned the woman was at the home earlier that evening, and as she was leaving, she was confronted by someone who stabbed her multiple times. Officers believe they then fled in a vehicle that was parked in a laneway on the extension of 10th Street, north of Todd Lane.
They have yet to be found.
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In the days that followed, LaSalle police executed search warrants at the home and the victim’s residence in Windsor. The occupants of the home on Todd Lane are not persons of interest, police said.
OPP said they were asked to help with the probe on Wednesday. Members of the canine unit were brought in earlier to help track the suspect.
The victim has been identified as 45-year-old Nancy Grewal, a Punjabi social-media influencer who had posted videos speaking out against Khalistan extremism.
Day-long protest over Nijjar murder at Indian consulate in Vancouver
The Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region, has been at the heart of high tensions between India and Canada in recent years.
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Relations between India and Canada soured in 2023 when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian intelligence agencies had credible evidence linking agents of the Indian government to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
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Nijjar was murdered on June 18, 2023, when two gunmen opened fire on his pickup truck as he was leaving Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, where he was president.
Narendra Modi’s government had long accused Nijjar of leading what it calls a terrorist group behind attacks in India, although no credible evidence was ever produced. India had repeatedly pressed Canada for his arrest over the years.
India denied any involvement in his murder, and while Prime Minister Mark Carney has worked to smooth relations between the two nations, multiple Sikh leaders in Canada have said they’ve received notice from police their lives could be in imminent danger.
The motive behind Grewal’s slaying is under investigation, LaSalle police Chief Michael Pearce said.
“Investigators are confident this was not a random act of violence. Ms. Grewal’s murder is being investigated as an intentional act against her. All information is being considered,” he said in a statement.
“While we recognize the significant public interest in this case, we will not share information that will compromise the investigation, including leads, tips, and investigative avenues.”
Grewal’s Instagram remains active through joint-author posts, some of which described her as a “beautiful soul” who was “stolen from us.”
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Police are seeking the public’s assistance in obtaining information, dashcam or surveillance video regarding the getaway vehicle between 8:45 and 9:30 p.m. that day.
“This vehicle may have been visible to drivers who travelled northbound on 10th Street towards Todd Lane,” the OPP said in a news release Thursday.
“Investigators are also interested in speaking to anyone that saw any vehicles parked in that laneway in the weeks prior to Tuesday, March 3, 2026.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPP, LaSalle police or Crime Stoppers.
Ontario Provincial Police say a two-year-old child is dead after an incident involving a vehicle on private property in Robillard Township.
Police say officers responded around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday after a child in the northern Ontario community was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
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They say the child was later pronounced dead.
Police say the child sustained fatal injuries while a vehicle was being moved in a driveway area of the rural property.
No other details were provided about the incident.
Ontario Provincial Police are asking hunters not to target cattle that broke free from their trailer earlier this week.
OPP in Kenora say at roughly 10 a.m. March 1, a crash involving a commercial vehicle caused cattle to break free from their trailer.
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Officers say the cattle are in the area around Highway 17 and Inglis Lake Road, adding there is a plan to safely remove the remaining cows from the area.
“In the interest of public safety and the safety of the removal team, Kenora OPP is asking to refrain from hunting,” the force said.
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“Hunting the cattle may result in charges under the Trespass to Property Act as well as Criminal Code charges such as discharging a firearm recklessly, careless use of a firearm, and theft.”
Anyone who sees cattle along Highway 17 near Inglis Lake Road is asked to contact the OPP.
Ontario Provincial Police say eight people were injured after a bus rollover on Highway 401 east of Napanee, Ont., on Sunday.
Police say the injuries were non-life-threatening and include cuts, broken bones and dislocations.
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OPP say emergency crews responded after a bus entered the ditch and rolled over in the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 in the area of Old Wilton Road around 7:15 p.m.
They say the bus was carrying 47 passengers and the driver at the time of the crash.
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The injured people were taken to two local hospitals for treatment and Highway 401 eastbound was closed for about four hours in the area.
Police say the investigation into the cause of the rollover is ongoing.
