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Sault Ste. Marie gunman didn't have firearms license when he went on rampage: police

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., say the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage in late October did not have an active firearms license.
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A police forensic unit attends a crime scene on Second Line, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., say the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage in late October did not have an active firearms license. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bob Davies

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., say the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage in late October did not have an active firearms license.

Bobbie Hallaert killed four people, including three of his own children, and injured a woman before taking his own life in what police have called a case of intimate partner violence.

Police in the northern Ontario city say they continue to investigate the case, including determining how a rifle and revolver recovered at one of the crime scenes were acquired.

Police say the 44-year-old offender had a firearms license from 2008 to 2014, but had not had one since. 

Police say officers responded to a "disturbance" in January 2020 involving Hallaert and seized two firearms.

They say the firearms were "not involved in the disturbance call" and have since remained safely in police custody. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2023. 

The Canadian Press

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