An active investigation is underway after two Carleton special constables were confronted by a man wielding a replica weapon during Fall Orientation week.
On Sept. 2 at around 4 a.m., two special constables were called to the scene near Colonel By Drive to deal with a situation involving a man with a gun, said Brian Billings, the director of the Department of University Safety at Carleton.
He said that Ottawa Police Service was called, and the man fled.
According to Billings, this attack was a “random, isolated incident.” He said attacks on special constables are not common and added that the officers are fully trained on how to deal with this situation.
“The MOU [memorandum of understanding] between us and the Ottawa Police provides us with limited law enforcement on campus and basic enforcement training for our officers,” Billings said. “Our officers are armed only with a collapsible baton and pepper spray. If anything more is involved—guns for example—the police are called immediately.”
He said campus officers are taught to flee danger if a situation goes beyond their training while still monitoring the suspect until Ottawa Police arrive. This is for the safety of the special constables, Billings said.
Each patrol team consists of a shift manager, three special constables, and a dispatcher, along with several student safety patrollers who do various non-police duties around campus to aid the full-time patrol services staff, Billings said. Each team is on one shift at a time, unless there is an event, in which case more teams are usually on duty to provide safety for the specific event, as well as around campus.
“At times of events such as Fall Orientation, concerts, and even some sporting games, more teams are present to provide extra security,” Billings said. “The only time the number of officers on duty would be slightly decreased is in summer and school breaks, when there are fewer people on campus.”
While the officers involved in the situation were not seriously injured, one did receive some minor abrasions on his arm during the incident.
Police searched the area after the suspect fled, and found the gun in a garbage can on campus. However, the gun ended up being a pellet gun designed to look like an authentic weapon.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, 24 -year-old Myles Fernandes was charged with “two counts of pointing a firearm, two counts of uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.” The article said that he faced these charges in court on Sept. 3.
Billings explained that his special constables did everything they were supposed to do in the situation.
“We work closely with the Ottawa Police, and they called them straight away, allowing for only a three-minute response time,” he said. “They monitored the suspect, yet kept their distance and did their job exactly how they were trained to respond.”
Photo by Meagan Casalino
