Monday’s heavy police presence in a small Oro-Medonte village provided plenty of excitement, and a bit of worry, for its residents.
A man was found in a vehicle at about 9:20 p.m. Monday on Old Barrie Road in Rugby, suffering life-threatening injuries after being shot.
Tracey Horne, who lives nearby, saw emergency vehicles near the fire hall and assumed the firefighters were taking part in training, as they often do on Mondays.
“About 10 minutes later, an ambulance goes flying by,” Horne recalled.
Not thinking much of it, Horne went to bed shortly after 11 p.m. She woke up just after midnight and went to the kitchen.
“My kitchen was red and blue,” lit up with flashing lights from emergency vehicles, she said.
A number of residents gathered near the intersection of Old Barrie Road and Line 12 to see what was going on, and the rumours started swirling.
“Everybody was talking about it,” Horne said.
They assumed the victim and the person who shot him weren’t from the area, so they were surprised to learn two of the three people arrested in relation to the incident are from Oro-Medonte.
“We’re trying to process that,” Horne said, but added, “No one in this area really recognizes the names.”
The OPP Tactics and Rescue Unit made the arrests Tuesday at an Oro-Medonte home. Charged with attempted murder are Larry Parisien, 63, and Taylor McIsack, 30, both of Oro-Medonte, and Cory Greenspoon, 28, of the Blue Mountains. They made their first court appearance Wednesday in Barrie. They’ll be back in court Friday.
The victim, a 37-year-old Aurora man, is still in life-threatening condition in a Toronto hospital, police said.
“I can’t recall a shooting (in Rugby) before,” said Horne, who has lived there for about 25 years. “Our most excitement is when our volunteer firefighters are heading out and everybody just sends out a little prayer.”
Police are not releasing any further information about the incident, citing a court-ordered publication ban.
