A man who allegedly broke into an Edmundston business’ warehouse on Canada Road shortly after midnight on May 27 and shot an employee there before fleeing and leading police on a manhunt is facing 20 charges related to the shooting.
Edmundston police arrested Charles Alfred Potts, 34, an Ontario native, at 10 p.m. on the day of the shooting.
Potts allegedly broke into the warehouse and shot a male employee before leaving in a company vehicle that police say he stole from the business. The suspect then crashed the vehicle near Highway 2 before fleeing on foot, police said.
The unnamed employee who Potts allegedly shot was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor wounds and was released.
Police issued an alert following the incident warning the public that a shooting suspect was on the loose and asked that anyone with information about the person contact them.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on May 27, Edmundston police officers allegedly spotted Potts driving another stolen vehicle.
The officers followed the vehicle into Royal Canadian Mounted Police jurisdiction.
Edmundston police contacted the West District Royal Canadian Mounted Police whose members deployed a spike belt on the Trans-Canada Highway between Edmundston and Saint-Leonard, stopping the vehicle. Potts allegedly exited the vehicle with a firearm.
A short time later, Potts allegedly “took actions that were threatening towards the [members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police], and police discharged their firearm towards (him),” according to the Edmundston Police Force.
Police arrested Potts a short time later.
Potts appeared at Edmundston Provincial Court on Friday.
He is charged with a variety of criminal activities related to the warehouse break-in as well as charges surrounding his arrest. At Friday’s hearing, a Provincial Court judge ordered Potts to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Charges against Potts include pointing a firearm at an individual, sequestering an individual, pointing a firearm at police, break and enter, breach of probation, vehicle theft, unloading a firearm with the intent to endanger the life of a person, and committing an armed aggression with a firearm.
After undergoing the court-ordered psychological assessment, Potts is scheduled to appear again at 2 p.m. July 23 at Edmundston Provincial Court.
This story was originally published in the Fiddlehead Focus.