Laurent Robillard-Cardinal
Turns out they were only firecrackers. After an important police operation involving the SWAT team in the Seigneurie neighbourhood during the afternoon of September 3, police determined, following their three-hour investigation, that the loud noises heard by residents were not gunshots as initially presumed, but rather large firecrackers.
“After the investigation we can now confirm there were no gunshots, as the initial calls to 9-1-1 indicated. Rather, they were powerful firecrackers which sound like gunshots. The two Gatineau residents who caused this commotion could receive a fine for disturbing the peace and public order,” indicated Gatineau police by way of a press release. The by-law article states that it is prohibited to use, burn or blow up firecrackers, a small rocket, a roman candle, a torpedo or any type of firework of the sort.
When the residents blew up the firecrackers early in the afternoon several residents called 9-1-1 reporting gunshots. Police arrived well equipped and in great numbers on de la Colline Avenue and enforced a security perimeter in the neighbourhood. After arresting the two suspects police interrogated them and the witnesses.
Meanwhile, schoolchildren attending the nearby Vieux-Verger school and who typically walked home were held at the school until parents could pick them up. Certain residents were also unable to access their home during the operation. After more than three hours police lifted the security perimeter and everything returned to normal.
