Police set up checkpoint at Canso Causeway in manhunt
A Bridgewater manhunt has moved- in part- to the Quad Counties.
Tobias Charles Doucette is wanted for attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed an officer in the neck, and for assault on his common-law partner Monday night.
RCMP say he also stabbed a police dog, then fled into the woods.
Several homes in the Bridgewater area were evacuated Tuesday night; other residents were told to stay inside with their doors locked.
Doucette is originally from Richmond Co.; an officer at the checkpoint says he still has family members in Potlotek.
Cpl. Jennifer Clarke tells The Hawk they established a police checkpoint on the mainland side of the Canso Causeway to check vehicles heading to Cape Breton.
“Things are very fluid, and certainly could change depending on the way the investigation is going,” she says. “I can tell you that we’re still actively searching (Wednesday).”
Unconfirmed Facebook posts indicate people believe they saw him near Afton in Antigonish Co. Tuesday night; meanwhile, RCMP have confirmed a person involved in a single-vehicle collision in Monastery, which took place Wednesday morning, was not Doucette.
Clarke says they can’t say definitively he isn’t in the area.
“It’s certainly a possibility that we’re considering,” she says. “Honestly, any pieces of information that people have, we would absolutely encourage them to please call us right away with that.”
Clarke says a large concentration of police resources remains focused on the Bridgewater area.
Doucette is described as an Indigenous man in his early 30s, 6’2, 220 lbs, with brown hair and green eyes; he had no shirt, no shoes, and was wearing black shorts when he was last seen.
Police say he may be armed with a knife; anyone with information is asked to call RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
