Three people were arrested and released pending further investigation following a frightening incident in the capital city’s downtown on Sunday that forced the postponement of the Downtown Santa Claus Parade.
RNC were called to a home on Brazil Street shortly after 6:30 Sunday morning following numerous reports of multiple shots fired in the area.
RNC Constable James Cadigan says reports indicated that someone had entered a home.
That’s when responding officers contained the area, including closing roads. An incident commander was brought in along with RNC tactics and rescue units.
Brazil Street incident. Photo courtesy of Kurt Maclellan
Attempts were made to establish contact with those inside—which was eventually established with a flip phone that police managed to get into the home.
He says while the process of establishing communication with the people inside was underway, efforts were made to evacuate nearby homes.
Constable Cadigan says while many are asking why police didn’t issue a warning to postpone the parade earlier, the situation was a fluid one.
He says incidents like the one that played out on Brazil Street are unpredictable, and there are always hopes that it will be resolved quickly. He says when it became apparent that the parade, and the large number of people heading into the downtown would become an issue, they started to contact city and parade officials.
“We look at the risk factors within 100 metres” of the area police had contained and the fact that there would be a large number of people in the area, the decision was made to inform the city, SJRFD and Downtown St. John’s advising that the parade be postponed.
The three people inside the home left the property around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. No charges have yet been laid as the firearms-related investigation continues.
A man who called 911 as shots rang out from Brazil Street just before dawn yesterday says he was telling people heading to the parade to get out of the area.
Peter Harbin heard about nine shots from 6:00 to 7:00 in the morning. He lives about 120 feet from the house from where the shots originated. Harbin was surprised that the RNC waited until 11:00—an hour before parade time—to contact organizers. By then, people were already filing into the downtown.
He says he opened up his window to tell families walking through the area to get out of the area. Had the call to cancel come an hour sooner, many who went downtown would have known not to do so.
There were a lot of moving parts that had to come together once the RNC asked Downtown St. John’s to shut down the Santa Claus Parade.
The call from police came in at about 11:00 and Gaylynne Lambert of Downtown St. John’s says they did not hesitate to follow the RNC’s advice. The parade committee had to invoke its emergency plan to get people out of the downtown and to prevent people from going into the area.
She says everyone instantly jumped into action to stop Metrobus from carrying people to the parade area and to actually alter the flow so that the buses would go to Harbour Drive to pick people up.
The parade goes next Sunday at noon.
