This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Ontario Provincial Police also issued an advisory on social media asking drivers stuck on Highway 11 to stay in their vehicles and lock their doors during the hunt for the suspects. Police later said they arrested six people.
OPP did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment about criticism of the highway closure.
Turley said she and other people started getting out of their vehicles after a while to chat since the internet connection on that part of the highway wasn’t good enough to check the latest news online and they didn’t want to run their cars for four hours.
She said she spent most of the time listening to music, praying, and speaking with friends and family members on the phone until police reopened the highway.
“When they finally let us go through, you could see where everything had happened, where the suspect’s car was off in the ditch and the doors were wide open and there was all sorts of mess on the road and skid marks,” she said, adding that it was “unnerving” to see a police officer with an automatic weapon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025.
