Police investigating the unsolved murder of 18-year-old Alex Tobin in Omemee in the City of Kawartha Lakes have released new details about the crime and video footage of suspects.

The Ontario Provincial Police held a virtual media conference on Thursday (April 14) where they provided previously unreleased details of the murder, along with video and photos of two suspects fleeing the apartment building at the time of the murder as well as three suspects at a Scarborough park believed to be discarding evidence connected to the murder.

On February 18, 2020 at around 1:07 p.m., Tobin was shot in his girlfriend’s apartment at 36 King Street East in Omemee, a small apartment building located across from Omemee Foodland, and later died in hospital.

Detective Inspector Chris Josiah, major case manager with the OPP Criminal investigation Branch, said police have since recovered the firearm, during an unrelated investigation, they believe was used to kill Tobin.

“We are looking for the public’s help to identify the person who shot Alex,” Josiah said. “It was known that Alex was involved in the illegal sale of marijuana.”

“Through the investigation, my team and I have learned that, following Alex’s shooting, two suspects were captured on video leaving the building and fleeing the area. We believe that the suspects were from the Greater Toronto Area and attended Alex’s residence to purchase marijuana.”

VIDEO: Suspects in February 18, 2020 murder of Alex Tobin

The two suspects then left the area in a motor vehicle on Highway 7.

The first suspect is described as a black male with braided hair and of average height. He was wearing a blue, hooded sweatshirt, a ‘Moose Knuckle’ winter coat, and black Nike-brand ‘Air Force One’ running shoes.

The second suspect is described as a black male, who was wearing a blue hooded winter jacket. He wore prescription eyeglasses with uniquely shaped frames.

In a March 3, 2020 video released by police, three suspects in a black Audi sedan are seen arriving at Murison Park in Scarborough. Two of the suspects get out of the car and walk into the park while carrying a blue winter jacket and a garbage bag, where they are believed to have discarded evidence connected to Tobin’s murder.

Police are seeking the public’s help to identify the owner of the black Audi sedan and the two suspects in the video. They have released photos of the three suspects obtained during the investigation.

A $50,000 reward continues to be offered for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Tobin’s murder.

The OPP is urging anyone who may have information that would assist with the homicide investigation to call the OPP’s dedicated tip line at 1-844-677-5020.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit tips online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip.

Peterborough native Chloë Black is about to embark on a life-changing journey — she is travelling to Romania in eastern Europe to help animals displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The daughter of well-known Peterborough musician Alan Black, Chloë will be leaving her home in Tuscon, Arizona on Easter Sunday for Arad, Romania, where an all-volunteer group has come together to support rescued animals that have been lost or abandoned during the war in Ukraine.

“The day of the invasion, I felt so angry and helpless,” Chloë tells kawarthaNOW. “I’d been following the build up closely as I work with a man from Ukraine. He immediately lost contact with family as they are in Irpin. Alex is a wonderful man and he and his wife lost contact with family for over two weeks, not knowing if they were alive.”

As an animal lover, Chloë had already been following groups on Facebook helping animals (such as Breaking The Chains – Documentaries and WarPaws), so when they posted a plea for volunteers to help build an animal shelter and help care for animals vacated from Ukraine, she contacted them immediately.

“I needed to do something,” Chloë recalls. “Like everyone, the feelings of anger over such pointless destruction and loss of life just overwhelmed me. I love people, and wanted to help the people, but the animals were a casualty of this war that broke my heart.”

So Chloë made the difficult and brave decision to leave behind her home, her job (with the support of her employer), and her own three dogs (Jill, Catie, and Cash, who will be cared for while she’s gone) to join the group of volunteers in Arad, the third largest city in western Romania.

“Because I had to leave my job, move out of my home and have people step up to care for my dogs, I knew it would be a big decision. I’m comfortable, and I like my job and where I live. But so were the victims of the war. When I really imagined myself in their shoes, I knew I had to go.”

The volunteer group has been busy building an animal shelter that will house around 800 rescued animals, and they hope to be able to reunite the animals with their humans or, if that can’t be done, to find homes for these animals in the rest of Europe.

Chloë, who will be bringing a suitcase filled with items for the veterinarians who are volunteering and for the animals when they arrive, will be in Romania for at least five weeks.

Along with other volunteers, Chloë will be housed in Arad in a home that someone has donated.

However, she still needs to cover her travel costs and living expenses. One of her friends in Tuscon, Teresa Dodson, has set up a GoFundMe to support Chloë’s effort. The GoFundMe has raised over half of its $10,000 goal.

If you want to support Chloë, you can donate at gofundme.com/f/help-rescue-animals-from-ukraine.

Two days before the Easter long weekend, Peterborough Public Health is warning of a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission in the Peterborough area and is advising residents to wear masks and avoid indoor social gatherings and high-risk settings.

For the first time since it launched two weeks ago, the health unit’s COVID-19 Community Risk Index has reached “very high” — its highest level.

The index, which is updated every Wednesday, has five risk levels from very low risk to very high risk, and includes the status of six COVID-19 indicators used to determine the risk level: the local case incidence rate per 100,000, the number of hospitalizations, new deaths, PCR test positivity rate, community-reported rapid antigen test positivity rate, and wastewater surveillance signals.

Since last week, three indicators have moved higher, with hospitalizations moving from “high” to “very high”, rapid antigen test positivity from “high” to “very high”, and deaths from “low” to “moderate”.

“It is clear that the sixth wave is continuing to surge and I remain very concerned for the health of our most vulnerable residents,” says medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott in a media release.

“I know this is not the news we wanted to hear before a long holiday weekend, but the safest course of action is to wear a mask and avoid indoor social gatherings and high-risk settings where transmission can occur. This is important for us all to decrease transmission, but especially those at high risk of severe illness with COVID-19.”

Given the very high risk of transmission, Peterborough Public Health is offering guidance for both the general population and for those who are at high risk of infection (including people who are immunocompromised, medically at risk, unvaccinated, or 60 years of age or older).

For the general population, the health unit strongly recommends wearing masks for all interactions with people from outside your household, avoiding social gatherings in all indoor settings, and avoiding high-risk settings where transmission levels could be higher due to large capacity limits and limited physical distancing.

For high-risk populations, the health unit is strongly recommending using a respirator mask if possible (N95 or KN95).

For residents of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Northumberland, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit has identified a significant rise in viral signal from the municipal wastewater monitoring sites in Cobourg and Lindsay, as well as an increasing number of lab-confirmed cases and new outbreaks in highest-risk settings.

The HKPR District Health Unit is reminding residents to celebrate safely on the long weekend by avoiding the “three Cs”: closed spaces, crowded spaces, and close faces.

“Avoiding the three Cs this holiday weekend makes extra sense, when COVID-19 cases are surging,” says medical officer of health Dr. Natalie Bocking in a media release. “For instance, indoor spaces that aren’t well ventilated can increase the risk of COVID-19 spreading, so open a window if indoors or take the celebration outdoors if the weather permits. Reduce the risk further by sticking with smaller gatherings, not large ones. In addition, wear a tight fitting mask if visiting indoors, especially if someone in attendance is at higher risk of severe COVID-19 due to age or medical reasons.”

At a public meeting of the Peterborough police services board on Tuesday night (April 12), acting police chief Tim Farquharson addressed what he called “probably one of the most polarizing, divisive challenges in our community right now” — how police respond to continued protests against COVID-19 public health measures.

Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien, a member of the board who also attended the meeting, had brought the issue forward in response to public complaints about a rally outside of Peterburgers restaurant in downtown Peterborough on Saturday.

Also calling it a challenge that affects “the trust and respect people have for the police and how we’re handling things,” Farquharson noted the police are in the business of protecting the public, no matter who they are.

“We don’t take sides, that’s not our job,” Farquharson said. “We’ve been accused of supporting the anti-mask group, the freedom convoy, the various groups that come, and that is not the case for us, and it won’t be the case moving forward.”

“We’ll use the tools at our disposal, we’ll adequately staff for any protests that come. Any offences that are criminal or provincial in nature, we are going to deal with. We will be working with the city municipal by-law.”

Farquharson added the police service’s senior team had a “lengthy meeting” on Tuesday with city staff and the city solicitor about “what we can do, what we can’t do, what we should do, what we shouldn’t do.”

“Moving forward, there will be an increased presence of officers in regards to the enforcement piece,” he promised. “We’ll make sure that we’re adequately staffed, that we keep everyone safe, but we expect everyone to follow the laws. And if those are breached, then we will have to deal with that part of it, and we are willing to deal with that.”

Indirectly referring to the rally on Saturday at Peterburgers, Farquharson said police are getting “a lot of calls from the public that don’t feel safe and want us to do more, and that’s what basically our weekend as a senior team was spent working on.”

“Our constituents and stakeholders are concerned, don’t feel safe, as well as council who are getting the calls from constituents asking questions,” he said. “And it’s part of our job to educate on what we can and can’t do.”

In response to Farquharson remarks, Therrien said city council and the police board supports people’s right to freedom of assembly and to protest “even though mandates have been lifted so I know a lot of people in the community are confused as to what is being protested exactly.”

“But the balance of that is what we do when the protests, or what’s going on, are having a detrimental impact on the residents,” she said. “Of not just that immediate community, but I get emails and calls — not just as a member of council, but I know at the police service we hear about this too — from people who were thinking about coming into town for the day but are staying away. So it’s bad for the economy, it’s bad for business, and community members are feeling unsafe,”

“Everybody knows I’m fine with f-bombs and all those types of things, but the line (is) drawn at comments that are harassing people in the community, any kind of slur, any kind of hateful comments, that is unacceptable,” Therrien added.

She asked Farquharson how police can address that if it happens to people, “because I have heard numerous instances of that.”

“One of the things we talk about in regards to the yelling and the disturbances, and the slurs, that would be dealt through cause a disturbance,” Farquharson replied. “Now that’s a summary conviction offence, and officers have to basically find (people committing (the offence) … saying that, that doesn’t mean you can’t do further investigation through video, through film, and somebody could be charged at a later date.”

“That won’t be tolerated. Now saying that, when we had some of the (protests) at Confederation Park, and we had 30 officers and a 1,000 (or) 1,500 people, we couldn’t see everything. As you know, we did do follow-up investigations later for criminal activity and provincial offences, and we did our best to lay those charges at a later date. Sometimes it’s safer, to be frank, with officer safety. That’s what the lead inspector is there for, to control that, decide when it’s best to do things, not just for the safety of officers also the safety of the people. There are people that lawfully protest.”

“There’s nothing that is going to permit people to be screaming,” he said. “The other thing that we found about megaphones, stereos, decibel levels, there’s been complaints about that. People are upset. We have laid our three summonses in the past, which means an automatic court date, a heavier fine, but that doesn’t stop it at the time.”

“We are speaking to the Crown. Does it raise to the level of mischief, which is a criminal code offence: interfering in the lawful use and enjoyment of people’s property? And that’s something we are working with the Crown (on), because that’s an arrestable offence. If you’ve done those other things — the warning, the part one, the part three summons — can it escalate to mischief? So we’re waiting for a call back, we’re working with the Crown on that. There are things we are doing that we’ve explained to the city.”

Farquharson also referred to the issue of excessive noise caused by honking vehicles.

“We do have certain vehicles that are driving around in circles blaring on their horn. Is there an offence for that? Yes, there is: unnecessary noise … it’s a provincial offence, so we will be enforcing that. Obviously, we’re using our discretion. There’s people that say they’re honking because a child ran in front of their car.”

Farquharson said the police will be dealing with “people who are going around the block consistently blaring their horn,” but didn’t provide details about how.

“Some of these noises are going on for hours at a time, and we are getting a complaints about that. So we’ll address that as well, and other things that I don’t want to get into at this time for obvious reasons.”

Therrien pointed out there is a “level of frustration in the community when people are feeling too intimidated to come to our downtown, to come to these neighbourhoods.”

“I’m just making it public that the police board and myself, we hear the concerns and certainly empathize with them. Of course there’s a right to peaceful protest, that’s fair, but again, when you’re impeding other people’s rights, that’s problematic.”