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Victims aplenty during wild chase for gunman

A man outside the Hotel '98 and Flipper's Pub pulled a gun on a woman and terrified witnesses last Saturday night, say police. "They were of the belief that they were about to see someone die," said Sgt.

A man outside the Hotel ‘98 and Flipper’s Pub pulled a gun on a woman and terrified witnesses last Saturday night, say police.

“They were of the belief that they were about to see someone die,” said Sgt. Don Rogers, RCMP spokesperson.

The suspect was gone by the time cops arrived. The police cordoned off the area and detained one man who provided details on the suspect.

RCMP then received a phone call from a person in a Strickland Street building who noticed a man hiding a gun.

“There was a person who called police and said there’s a suspicious person who looks like he’s planting something in the ground here,” said Rogers.

Cops weren’t able to nab the suspect at that site either. The entire watch was alerted of the fugitive, who was believed to be in a vehicle, said Rogers.

A similar vehicle was spotted at the Petro-Canada gas station on Fourth Avenue. Police circled the area and began a high-risk takedown.

“When we’re dealing with a situation like that we have to assume those people might be armed,” said Rogers.

“So when we do a high-risk takedown, it’s essentially a takedown at gun point.”

One person was outside the vehicle and two were inside, he said. Police ordered them outside with their hands visible and then onto the ground until police determined they didn’t have any weapons.

“They’re usually handcuffed until everyone is safe and then we ask them questions,” said Rogers.

But they were the wrong people, cops realized after questioning.

“They were totally co-operative and were provided with an explanation and an apology and, once that was done, there were no issues at all,” he said.

After another phone call from the tipster on Strickland St. police rushed back to where the suspect was initially seen.

Desmond McGinty, a 24-year-old from Pelly Crossing, was arrested for five separate crimes, including possessing a dangerous weapon and assault with a weapon.

His weapon turned out to be a handgun-shaped pellet gun.

Rogers wasn’t worried the charges would be dropped because the weapon isn’t a firearm.

“The fact that it’s a pellet gun doesn’t matter in the committing of an indictable offence,” he said.

“The charges we laid are consistent with evidence at the scene and the investigation that we’ve done and that’s for the Crown to worry about.”

McGinty remains in jail awaiting bail and RCMP are still looking for a woman who accompanied him that Saturday.

Knives stolen from Pelly Crossing cultural centre

A collection of hand-crafted knives was stolen from a cultural centre in Pelly Crossing on August 30.

RCMP responded to an automatic home alarm set off at the Big Jonathon House Heritage Centre and discovered a broken window.

It’s believed the suspect broke into the centre and accidentally cut themselves. Pools of blood were found in multiple places, said Sgt. Don Rogers, RCMP spokesperson.

The suspect stole three knives, hand-crafted by Richard Hager, and $40 in cash. The knives have a $700 value, said Rogers.

Anyone with a tip can call 1-800-222-8477. Crimestoppers offers up to $2000 in rewards for evidence leading up to an arrest.

The knives can be seen at the RCMP Yukon’s website, yk.rcmp.ca.

Contact James Munson at

jamesm@yukon-news.com