Reaction to an incident at North Bay City Hall

North Bay’s Mayor is thanking city police for their professional and quick response to an incident at City Hall yesterday (Tues).

Police were called just before 4 pm about a suspicious person who allegedly threatened an employee, who believed she and others were at risk.

A 33 year old man from Spanish, Ontario was arrested on site.

Police say a search resulted in a rock in a sock being seized.

Mayor Al McDonald says, “I’d really like to thank the men and women of our North Bay Police Services for their professionalism and quick response to City Hall, it was greatly appreciated.”

He also says the safety of staff and visitors to City Hall is very important to them, “we’ll be reviewing our safety and security process to see if there’s any further steps that can be taken to ensure the continued safety of our staff, the citizens and visitors to City Hall.”

City Hall was closed for a time during the incident.

Meantime, The Chief Administrative officer for the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board or DNSSAB has released the following statement on the incident:

“It is the DNSSAB’s priority to ensure all staff, visitors and clients can conduct business in a safe and secure environment. Protocols exist to provide the appropriate process in rare events, such as the one yesterday where a suspicious person at North Bay City Hall began making comments about an alleged gun.  As per protocol, DNSSAB staff issued a call for assistance to the North Bay Police Service.  Police responded and quickly brought the situation under control without incident.  A joint review by the DNSSAB and the City of North Bay will take place to determine if further processes or responses are required to ensure the continued safety of everyone at City Hall.

On behalf of the Board Chair Mark King, we would like to thank our staff who responded according to protocol in this rare occurrence, and we would also like to extend our thanks to the North Bay Police Services for their response and the care they took to ensure the safety of everyone in the building.”