Police direct people asked to evacuate at the intersection of Barrington Street and Duke Street, in downtown Halifax, on Aug. 10, 2026. The Canadian Press/Devin Stevens
Halifax Regional Police arrested a man after the U.S. Consulate in Halifax received a bomb threat on Aug. 9, forcing police to close downtown streets for hours to search for the suspect before apprehending him on Aug. 10.
Officers determined there was no threat to public safety following their investigation, the policing agency posted in an Aug. 10 message on social media.
Besides the U.S. Consulate in Halifax, the Toronto consulate has also been the scene of two separate incidents in recent months.
Halifax Incident
The investigation began on Aug. 9 at 6:15 p.m., after the U.S. Consulate in Purdy’s Wharf on Upper Water Street informed police about the bomb threat. Police later identified the man who allegedly made the threat and began looking for him.
They located the man’s vehicle in the Purdy’s Wharf parkade around 8:10 a.m. on Aug. 10. Inside the vehicle, Halifax Regional Police said officers saw a propane tank and several containers that they believed contained flammable liquid.
“The Halifax Regional Police Explosive Disposal Unit responded and police began evacuating several streets in the downtown core until the vehicle and its contents could be safely approached and inspected,” the agency said. “A suspicious bag was also located nearby.”
About an hour later after its first announcement around 9 a.m., Halifax Regional Police issued another statement, saying its evacuation order had been expanded to include two office towers and several nearby buildings and streets.
The agency issued an emergency alert at 10:30 a.m. confirming that the bomb threat and the discovery of the suspicious vehicle prompted the closure of the nearby streets and evacuations of the parkade.
At one point, photos online showed a person appearing to wear bomb disposal gear entering the parkade.
Meanwhile, around 8:35 a.m., police located the 54-year-old suspect on Thomas Raddall Drive and arrested him, the policing agency said.
Since officers were concerned that he possessed explosives on his person, they kept road closures in place for most of the day, police said. This allowed the explosive disposal unit to search through the man’s belongings, with support from the RCMP explosive disposal unit.
At 2 p.m., police confirmed that the vehicle and its contents did not pose a risk and reopened the affected streets.
The policing agency added that officers took the suspect into custody and were interviewing him, and the investigation is ongoing.
Toronto Incidents
On July 27, the Toronto Police Service reported that an officer heard gunfire around 4:45 a.m. and saw a white Honda Accord with no licence plates speed away from the scene.
Police chased the vehicle but called off the pursuit to protect public safety. Officers later recovered a single shell casing and found one bullet hole in the consulate building, despite video footage showing that the suspects could have fired two shots.
Toronto police later arrested a 19-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy and charged them with 32 offences in connection with the incident, along with an alleged arson of a vehicle in a residential area of Caledon, north of the Greater Toronto Area, last month.
Investigators believe they can link both suspects to an encrypted messaging app that offered payment to carry out the shooting at the consulate, the Toronto police chief said during a press conference.
Meanwhile, Toronto police also arrested an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old in June in connection with the early morning gunfire on March 10 outside the U.S. Consulate.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
