Court documents reveal Sault Ste. Marie shooter was previously convicted in Simcoe County

Sault shooter previously arrested in Simcoe County The Sault Ste. Marie shooter was convicted in Simcoe County of crimes two decades ago.

Court records show that the man who killed four people -- including three of his own children -- before turning a gun on himself in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., last week was convicted two decades ago of smashing a police car window and impaired driving.

Family have identified the gunman behind the shooting rampage in the northern Ontario city as Bobbie Hallaert, who was also charged with assaulting a police officer in Sault Ste. Marie in 2019.

Court documents obtained by The Canadian Press show that Hallaert was convicted in 2003 of causing a disturbance at sports bar and breaking the rear window of a police vehicle in Midland, Ont., in August 2002.

Further records show that Hallaert pleaded guilty in October 2004 to impaired driving and failing to stop for a police officer in March of that year in the central Ontario township of Tay.

Police in Sault Ste. Marie, who have not named Hallaert, have called the shooting a case of intimate partner violence.

Police have said the 44-year-old shooter first broke into a home on the night of Oct. 23 and killed a 41-year-old woman before heading to a second home and killing three children -- aged six, seven and 12 -- and shooting another woman, aged 45, who survived.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023