Arrest of armed masked man in N.S. a case of intimate partner violence: police

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia police say they have arrested an 18-year-old man in a case related to intimate partner violence after he allegedly showed up to a workplace masked and carrying a loaded rifle.

Police say they were called to the Halifax suburb of Eastern Passage Tuesday night after reports of a masked man outside a Cow Bay Road restaurant where he was known to one of the employees. The man was wearing gloves and appeared to have a firearm concealed in his pants, police said, adding he tried to flee the scene but was tracked down with the help of police dogs.

The suspect was allegedly in possession of a rifle, ammunition and a prohibited magazine. RCMP say a search of a house on Romkey Drive revealed two more long guns, a loaded handgun with a prohibited magazine, ammunition, body armour and two shoulder patches from an RCMP uniform.

The case is rekindling memories of the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history in April 2020 when a lone gunman, disguised as a Mountie and driving a replica police car, went on a 13-hour rampage through the northern and central parts of the province before he was shot dead by two RCMP officers north of Halifax. He killed 22 people.

The final report of the public inquiry into the shootings said the gunman had abused his partner, Lisa Banfield, for years before the attacks. His rampage began with an assault on Banfield, who escaped and survived by hiding in the woods.

Nova Scotia has since declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.

Police said that they do not believe the suspect in Tuesday’s incident, Connor James Tobin, was inspired by the mass shooting, but they added that more information may come to light as the investigation continues.

“Considering the overall circumstances and the weapons present, the situation carried a significant risk of becoming lethal,” the RCMP said in an email. “At this stage, however, there is no evidence to suggest that Tobin was planning a broader attack.”

Tobin is facing additional charges from December and January involving the same victim. Police say they learned of the incidents as part of this week’s investigation. Charges include break and enter, disguise with intent, assault with a weapon, assault by choking, uttering death threats and criminal harassment.

“This was a fast‑moving intimate partner violence-related situation, and the quick, co-ordinated response by RCMP officers and our partners at Halifax Regional Police ensured it was resolved safely,” Staff Sgt. Mark MacPherson said in a statement.

Tobin, who remains in custody, is facing a slew of weapons charges in relation to the restaurant incident, including eight counts of failure to comply with a youth order, criminal harassment, disguise with intent and resisting arrest. There are additional charges for having body armour without a permit and possessing police shoulder patches.

Statistics Canada says 44 per cent of women and girls who’ve been in an intimate relationship — about 6.2 million women over the age of 15 — have reported some kind of psychological, physical or sexual abuse. There were more than 117,000 cases of intimate partner violence in Canada in 2022, with nearly 80 per cent of reports coming from women, says StatCan. The agency notes offences are vastly under-reported, with about 80 per cent of victims choosing not to contact police.

Kristina Fifield is a trauma therapist and social worker specializing in gender-based violence and a member of the committee monitoring the progress on recommendations from the public inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting. All of society must respond to the intimate partner violence epidemic, she said, as family members, co-workers, and others usually see red flags in relationships before those signs escalate to a greater level of violence.

While there is work being done to improve services to victims of violence, Fifield says more needs to happen on prevention and early intervention. “One thing that I think could make a shift in some of this (is) teaching from a very young age children, within the home, when they’re going to school, about emotional regulation,” she said in an interview.

“How do you deal with anger and rage? How do you deal with different emotions that are coming up that are intense, in a non-violent way?”

Fifield says many people, especially youth, are feeling disconnected from the physical world and finding connections through online spaces or via AI programs like ChatGPT.

The internet, Fifield said, can make faraway violence like war and other traumatic events feel close to home because of the immediacy of the content and the ease with which people can access it. Coupled with local issues like food and housing insecurity, extended time spent online can aggravate people’s sense that life is overwhelming, she said.

“All of these things are happening on a global level around violence and suffering and witnessing that. That is being held in our bodies and that does things to our brains,” she said.

Attorney general Scott Armstrong said in an interview Thursday that police prevented what could have been a tragedy, adding that the government is committed to addressing the recommendations from the mass casualty public inquiry. That includes extending emergency protection orders from 30 days to a year and more professional development for teachers on how to teach young people about avoiding unhealthy relationships, he said.

“We have actions being taken by (the office of) mental health and addictions, for example, education, for example,” Armstrong said. “I think there has been a sector-wide initiative to try to establish the fact that this is not socially acceptable,” he said referring to government departments, transition houses and women’s shelters.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to be vocal and stand up loudly and talk about these issues.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press