The man responsible for last month’s mass shooting in Sault Ste. Marie did not have a licence to possess or acquire firearms, and police are still investigating how he obtained the two weapons seized at one of the crime scenes.
Sault Police also provided more details today about the two weapons they found: a long gun and a handgun. Analysis determined that one is an SKS rifle and the other is a .38 calibre revolver.
“Detectives continue to investigate how the firearms were acquired,” says a news release issued today by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. “Photos of the firearms are not being released to not further victimize those involved in the incident.”
On the evening of Oct. 23, 44-year-old Bobbie Hallaert shot and killed Angie Sweeney, 41, at her Tancred Street home. He then drove to his former house on Second Line East and killed his three children — Abbie, 12; Alexandra, 7; and Nathan, 6 — before turning the gun on himself.
The children’s mother was also shot but survived.
Police disclosed today that Halleart did hold a Possession Acquisition Licence (PAL) from 2008 to 2014, but did not have a PAL since that time. A valid PAL is required to possess and/or acquire firearms in Canada.
Police also revealed that during a disturbance investigation involving Hallaert in January 2020, officers seized two firearms.
“Since the seizure, those firearms have been, and remain, safely in the custody of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service,” police said today.