The RCMP say a woman is dead and a man is wounded after he exchanged gunfire with police in northern Nova Scotia.
Colchester District RCMP responded to a 911 call at a home on Clarks Road in Bayhead, N.S., shortly before midnight.
Officers found a woman dead at the scene. Police located a suspect, who they say fled in a vehicle.
The officers followed the man and found him near Lockerby Memorial Cemetery on Highway 6 in Tatamagouche, N.S.
Police say the officers spoke to the 47-year-old man, who was inside his vehicle, and gunfire was exchanged before 7 a.m.
Police say the suspect was wounded and taken to hospital, where he remains in police custody. The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time.
The Northeast Nova Major Crimes Unit has taken over the investigation into the woman’s death, which police say is considered suspicious.
The RCMP has referred the shooting incident to Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), which is now investigating.
“We will conduct a forensic investigation of the scene, we will … talk to all the witnesses, we will seek out witnesses, and we will go now for several days of a fairly intense effort, and then over a few months to finalize it,” said SIRT’s director, Ron MacDonald.
The incident prompted the closure of schools in the Tatamagouche area Monday.
The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board says Tatamagouche Elementary School and North Colchester High School were closed for the day at the request of the RCMP.
“This was done as a precautionary measure due to an active situation in the community,” said the school board in a statement.
Buses travelling from the River John area to Pictou County schools were not running Monday morning. However, the school board says buses resumed their routes back to River John Monday afternoon after school.
CTV News has confirmed two international students were living at the same residence where the woman’s body was found. According to the Chignecto-Central School Board, both students have been offered counselling and support.
Police are holding the scenes in Bayhead and Tatamagouche, but say there is no risk to public safety at this time.
Police say they will share further information about the suspicious death when possible, but they are unable to discuss further details about the shooting incident, now that it is under investigation by SIRT.
SIRT is asking anyone who may have witnessed the shooting to contact them.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.
