The news story that continues to grip all of Canada this summer – the fugitive murder suspects from British Columbia – caused some undue panic in our region over the weekend.
Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod are wanted in the deaths of three people in Northern BC.
Social media yesterday had rumours that they had been spotted and even arrested in Timmins.
City police communications coordinator Marc Depatie repeats advice to make sure that anything you read is directly from police, or a credible news agency.
“It’s not uncommon to have misinformation or information without any legitimate foundation get some genuine traction on social media sites,” he says. “That’s the failing of these types of web sites. They have to be treated with a healthy amount of skepticism.”
Depatie calls those web sites “entertainment at best” and reminds you to stay calm.
“You know your policing agency is hard at work, trying to locate these persons. If there was any cause for public concern, we would have addressed that ahead of time.”