FLORENCE, N.S. -- The Cape Breton communities of Florence, Sydney Mines, and Membertou were much quieter on Monday.
All three places were at the centre of a police manhunt on Saturday as police searched for a suspect in two shootings who fled the scene on an ATV.
The suspect was eventually arrested on the Membertou First Nation, nearly 40 kilometers down the highway from where the shootings took place.
Raymond Shawn Daniel Leroy appeared in court Monday via video link for his arraignment.
"There are 32 charges before the court," said Crown attorney Sheldon Nathanson. "They're serious indictable offences."
Charges against Leroy include attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery with a firearm, and 15 additional charges related to weapons and threats.
The charges come after Cape Breton Regional Police received reports of shooting incidents in North Sydney, N.S., and Florence, N.S., around 4:30 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. Saturday.
Police confirmed a 31-year-old woman had been shot in the area of Highway 105 and a 50-year-old man had been shot at a home in the 600 block of Bras D’or Florence Road. The woman has since been released from the hospital, but the man remains in hospital in critical condition.
Police also received a report that an ATV had been stolen at gunpoint in Sydney Mines, N.S., around 5 p.m.
Police officers, including the emergency response team and a K9 unit, flooded the area in search of the suspect.
At 5:47 p.m., police tweeted that they were looking for Leroy, who was suspected in the shootings, and was believed to have a weapon.
Leroy was eventually spotted travelling on an ATV trail adjacent to Highway 125. Police followed his path and arrested him near the Alexandra Street roundabout in the Membertou, N.S., area at 6:13 p.m.
Investigators don’t believe the shootings were random attacks as Leroy and the victims are connected to one another.
On Monday afternoon, police released more information about another potentional altercation involving the alleged shooter. Police believe there was an altercation with another vehicle in the Sydney Mines area on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke says he's heard from residents who had concerns no public alert was issued during the nearly two-hour manhunt.
"The fact that the distance he was able to travel, thankfully less people were hurt in that process," Clarke said. "More definitely could've been, and it did create panic throughout the local community."
Clarke says he's confident in Cape Breton Regional Police's action that day. The issue is the time it takes to process the alert.
"Minister (Chuck) Porter told me today that he is doing a full and immediate review of that," Clarke said. "And we have to look at both sides coming together to see where the gap was."
This is not Leroy's first run-in with the law. In December of 2019 he was also facing charges, including attempted murder, but was released on bail.
This time, Leroy will remain in custody -- at least for now.
"He consented to his remand until Sept. 29th, and he essentially does not have a release plan," Nathanson said. "He's not pursing bail at this time. So he will appear back in court to answer to the charges."
Cape Breton Regional Police are asking anyone who interacted with Leroy, or who witnessed any of the incidents, on Saturday to contact them.
