The RCMP found themselves working on two fronts late last month after someone reported gunfire at a residence on Lake Avenue in Gimli and social media posts claimed there was an active shooter in town.
Schools went into lockdown shortly after 1 p.m. on Feb. 29 after notified by the Gimli RCMP that the service had received a report of gunfire. Then some time later, social media posts began popping up about an “active shooter,” in town, resulting in a degree of panic and some businesses locking their doors.
Posts on community social media sites such as Meanwhile in Winnipeg Beach had a post saying, “Active shooter in Gimli they are in lock down,” and Meanwhile in Gimli had a post saying, “Due to an active shooter in Gimli and lockdown at schools [a program] is cancelled.”
RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Paul Manaigre said the information the Gimli RCMP received from the caller who reported gunfire at the residence and the information that was eventually posted on social media sites were greatly at odds, and RCMP media relations realized it was “getting out of hand” and they’d have to do something.
“The information that was provided to police was vastly different than what was put on social media by rumour. So that’s why [media relations] reached out to the Gimli RCMP detachment, saying, ‘What’s going on here?’” said Manaigre. “Once we made them aware of what was out on social media, they said, ‘That’s not what’s going on.’”
The Gimli detachment had responded to a report of a male discharging a firearm towards to people during a dispute at a house on Lake Avenue on Feb. 29. Two people had left the scene and contacted the police. The following day, RCMP issued an arrest warrant for 28-year-old Joseph Henderson of Fort Alexander, who has yet to be located.
RCMP media relations became aware of social media posts about an active shooter at about 2:15 p.m. on the day of the incident, said Manaigre. The department then called the Gimli detachment to gather facts about the incident and write an advisory notice, which was posted online around 3 p.m.
The notice advised the public that the Gimli RCMP had responded to a “shots fired complaint” at a residence where the suspects and residents were known to each other and that nobody was injured. The suspect had fled the scene and the RCMP were patrolling the area.
Manaigre said the RCMP’s call to schools (or the Evergreen School Division) just after 1 p.m. was precautionary after officers had undertaken a risk assessment of the situation at the residence. There was also no need to send out an emergency alert via cell phones.
“I don’t think it was needed. If you think there’s a gunman on the street, then that would be the right response. But that’s not the call that came into the police,” said Manaigre. “That’s where the problem is. What was reported to us is not what social media put out. And that’s why people are upset by this.”
The call that had come into the RCMP detachment indicated there had been an argument at the house, a firearm was drawn and pointed, and as the male suspect exited the house, he fired the gun into the air.
“That’s a very common type of call for RCMP in Manitoba to get,” said Manaigre. “We knew someone had discharged a firearm, but we also knew there was no one running around town shooting at people or trying to scare people. This was isolated. It then became a matter of tracking the suspect down and finding out where the gun is.”
The municipality was told about the incident after the RCMP was made aware of what was being posted social media, he added. The service’s focus was on finding the suspect rather than monitoring what was being said on social media.
Manaigre said the Gimli RCMP response was appropriate to their training.
“If we get a call about gunfire, we have to do a risk assessment of the situation. Someone could be discharging a firearm on a rural property and it turns out someone is just target shooting out back. Or someone is hunting in a place they’re not supposed to be. Or sometimes it’s a call about a disturbance at a house party where things get out of control and someone pulls a gun and fires shots in the air,” said Manaigre. “The RCMP has to gather information to find out exactly what is going on then respond accordingly based on that risk assessment.”
He said RCMP also acted accordingly during a “high-risk takedown” of a person that day that police had thought might be the suspect they were looking for and who might be armed.
Because it was determined that a shooter was not running around the streets of Gimli, the Evergreen School Division was notified that they could proceed to release their students at the end of the normal school day.
Manaigre said there’s really no way to prevent rumours spreading on social media in future.
“It’s something the RCMP can’t focus on. It’s up to people to not spread false rumours,” he said. “I can understand you might want to post a concern if you’ve heard gunshots. But for someone to say there’s an active shooter running around Gimli, that’s twisting things dramatically. That’s fearmongering.”
The Express reached out to the RM of Gimli and council for comment, but did not get a response.
