COMMUNITIES AROUND BEATRICE ON EDGE AS ACCUSED IN MURDER, ARSON STILL AT LARGE 24 HOURS LATER
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
BRACEBRIDGE — Friday’s fatality, fire and “wanted man” has residents from Beatrice to Falkenburg, Raymond, Ufford and Windermere on edge tonight.
“It’s scary” and “it’s creepy,” admitted a couple of them just 24 hours after police said Mitchell Gray, 29, of Bracebridge is wanted for “murder and arson” last night at 8 p.m. on Beatrice Townline north west of Bracebridge.
Dylan Norman, who lives across Manitoba Street North (Muskoka Rd. #4) from the Beatrice Townline intersection, said “we seen helicopters flying over top of the house and all the commotion. But that’s about it. Most of the houses along the road are on the right side and have barns.”
After finding out about the incident online, when contacted by friends, he said: “We locked the doors, shut off the lights and did everything the shelter in place told us to do.”
Police didn’t come by, he said.
“Nothing else. Seen nothing.”
Asked if he knew Gray, Norman said “no, no, no not at all.
“We saw his face on line and that was about it. Because obviously it was so close to home and everything.
“But honestly at the end of the day we just hunkered down.”
“It’s kind of scary,” said a woman standing beside him in the doorway of the home.
She said “We heard gunshots.”
“It sounded like we heard something,” said Norman. “It sounded like two pops. But we also live up north, so we hear pops all the time.”
He suggested talking to the Shell gas station attendant at the Windermere Road and Raymond Road corner, where there are multiple cameras.
“We see them all the time and she said to me (Gray) was in in the morning earlier — the morning of.”
A worker inside the gas bar, which is also an LCBO outlet and also sells cannabis, said tonight that he wasn’t on the job during Friday’s tragic incident.
Josh Lewis, whose home on Windermere Road backs close onto Beatrice Townline, said “it’s pretty creepy.”
He said he and his wife got home afterwards from a meeting in Port Carling, “at about 10 o’clock.
“They had the road closed and sirens.”
He, too, said he didn’t know the Gray home despite driving past it every day.
But they still remain worried and on edge, said the Lewis Property Solutions management owner.
“All day (Saturday) we haven’t seen one single cop drive past here. You’d think they’d be canvassing the area, checking people’s sheds, checking out stuff like. The guy’s hiding somewhere.”
He said “we didn’t tell the kids exactly what was going on. But we did tell them that there was an incident and to stay inside and keep the doors locked.”
So when a reporter came knocking, they immediately called their dad, who came running when they said “someone’s at our driveway.”
A resident on Falkenburg Road told MuskokaTODAY.com that he saw fire trucks from Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes’ Windermere station respond past his home along with police.
As police continue their investigations the Beatrice Townline road between Raymond Road and Falkenburg Road remained closed.
Beatrice Townline is about 13 kms north of Hwy. 118 West in downtown Bracebridge.
A police officer said it remains a crime scene, but didn’t know if traffic from residents living along the road were allowed to gain access to their properties.
Anyone with information or who observes anything suspicious is urged to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or call 911 in an emergency. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit [ontariocrimestoppers.ca]ontariocrimestoppers.ca, where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
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