A 26-year-old male was arrested and remains in police custody.

Ontario Provincial Police Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

Residents of Lanark County locked their doors Friday after Ontario Provincial Police issued an alert they were searching for “two armed suspects” at large in the Beckwith township and the Sharbot Lake area, 65 kilometres apart.

The day began with a massive police operation at the Beckwith Recreation Complex southeast of Carleton Place. It ended with an OPP statement at 4 p.m. that there was no longer a public safety risk and only one person was facing charges. An investigation determined that no firearm was involved, police said.

OPP said they received a report Friday morning that two individuals, armed with a handgun, were near the Beckwith Township Arena on the 9th Line of Beckwith township. Police issued alerts “out of an abundance of caution and concern for public safety.”

The incident began after a stolen vehicle fled from OPP officers and was later stopped in the Smiths Falls area. One person was arrested. Dale Lewis Scott, 26, of Drummond-North Elmsley Township, has been charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, flight from a police officer, operating a vehicle while prohibited and possession of stolen property obtained by crime. He remained in police custody.

Shortly after noon, OPP warned area residents that police were searching for “two armed suspects” and requested that residents shelter in place, lock all doors and windows and notify police of any suspicious person.

Police released photos and descriptions of two men in their 30s, but later asked media not to use the information or photos. Neither man was charged.

Richard Kidd, the reeve of Beckwith, said OPP units including a canine unit, a tactical unit and a drone, started to arrive at the scene at about 9 a.m., followed by a helicopter dispatched from Orillia.

Kidd said he was notified of a significant police operation about 15 minutes after the first arrivals.

The recreation complex includes 10 outdoor soccer fields and other outdoor facilities as well as an indoor arena and indoor turf. There are also 400 acres of property with five kilometres of trails in the vicinity. All of this was scoured by police, Kidd said.

The nearby Beckwith School, also on the 9th Line, was locked down and five or six OPP officers went to the school. At around 10 a.m., parents were notified to pick up students. Because school buses were not running on Friday, there were fewer students than usual at the school, Kidd said. “They were at the park from 9 a.m. to about 1 p.m. There was a lot of police presence.

“I think that the OPP kept me informed as much as they could. It was amazing how quickly they got here.”

Meanwhile, the Limestone District School Board reported that the Granite Ridge Education Centre, a kindergarten to Grade 12 school in Sharbot Lake, and the Land O’Lakes Public School south of Highway 7 and west of Sharbot Lake were in a precautionary “hold and secure” situation because of a police request. Residents in Sharbot Lake, a small hamlet with a winter population of about 700 or 800 people, learned that the alert was lifted around 2:30 p.m.

“Everyone paid attention and did what they were supposed to do,” Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said. “I think people took it very seriously. If there was an alert, people know it’s there for a reason.”

With files from Megan Gillis

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