It was a day of worry and concern for Halfway Point’s Terri Greene on Wednesday. The single mom was working from home in the late afternoon when neighbors in the tiny 100 neighborhood outside Corner Brook started texting her about an unmarked police car parked outside her home. When she went to look she saw police officers climbing over a bank that led to her back yard. “I knew it wasn’t for me, so I wasn’t sure what was going on and, yes, I was a little concerned, but I had no idea what was really going on,” Greene told CBC News. “My dog started going a little crazy because he’s a little territorial, so he started barking like crazy. I was thinking, ‘What are you barking at?’ and when I looked out the window and looked down, there was a cop with a dog standing right outside window”. An incident with few details on the Humber Arm South — which includes Halfway Point — has led to six charges against a 38-year-old man. RCMP officers from Corner Brook and Deer Lake, as well as the emergency response team, general investigation division and police dog services responded to the call. The man was arrested by RCMP at a hotel in Corner Brook later in the day. He faces charges of careless use of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, reckless carrying of a firearm, possession of a firearm while prohibited, assault and uttering threats. Police made it clear via social media that there was no danger to the public. However, the tactical unit and armed officers created a lot of fear in the community, Green said. Terri Greene of Halfway Point said she had a front-row seat to the RCMP response to an alleged assault and weapons violations next door to her home. (Troy Turner/CBC) “Just the unknown, none of us had any idea and I had no idea,” he said. “I didn’t know the situation.” RCMP were not available for an interview about the incident. In a public statement, the force said it thanked the residents of Halfway Point for their co-operation and patience during the police investigation. As district councilor for the Qalipu First Nation band, Greene says they have been contacted by many people since the incident. And he feels obligated to clear up any misunderstandings about what happened. “I hear a lot about an alleged shooting and…I wanted to do this [interview] and to make people understand that it wasn’t the case from what I had seen, and I was a few hundred feet away, so I had a pretty good line of sight,” he said. “If you know there’s a police presence and a lot of police activity, don’t try to come and look and park your cars and be like spectators because you’re really getting in the way of what they’re trying to do.” Greene grew up in Halfway Point, but left for about 10 years to live and work elsewhere. When she returned home two years ago, she says she has noticed a change in the community. “There seems to be a lot of drug use and a lot of things like that, and I’m sure that warrants more police presence,” she said. “And drinking and driving and those things, I guess all of that would require more attention from the police, for sure.” Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
