Clinton News Record, 2014-10-01, Page 3CLOSING
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 • News Record 3
Information void after Clinton shooting left
area residents scrambling for details
Jennifer 0' Brien
QMI Agency
It played out like a scene from a
thriller. Quiet, small-town Clinton
was suddenly crawling with police
officers. Sirens were going off and
simultaneously, the town alarm —
adding to the panic.
In an age when we expect infor-
mation to be at our fingertips, it
seems obvious anyone could have
quickly turned to Twitter, Facebook
and area news sites to see what was
up. We do it all the time for school
closings and road accidents and
weather warnings.
But when Clinton -area residents
turned to the Internet to learn
about the influx of police, a mas-
sive response to a shooting that
killed one man and injured his wife
at nearby Hullett Conservation and
Wildlife Area, they found nothing.
There was no official word on
anything that Saturday night. In
fact, police remained silent for 20
hours, despite the continued pres-
ence of cruisers and groups of
officers.
By the time they released a scant
news release, saying they were
investigating a death, some who
hadn't locked themselves inside
had fled town in fear for their
safety.
Even the mayor was oblivious to
what was going on.
That 20 -hour gap — a news con-
ference two days later confirmed
nothing more than the name of the
dead man — raised a lot of criti-
cism but also highlights how police
are challenged in the age of social
media.
As our demand for information
grows, police agencies especially
are trying to figure out how to sat-
isfy that appetite while doing the
work they've always done.
Sometimes they get it right, but
the learning curve is steep and
sometimes they don't.
Police want to control the infor-
mation and, you could argue, have
good reason: Releasing the wrong
information can tip off suspects
and spoil potential jurors if there's
a trial. But it almost seems like the
Don Frigo from Caledon East was shot
dead on September 13 just north of
Clinton.
more information we expect, the
more they try to keep it to
themselves.
There's got to be a balance in
there somewhere, and police agen-
cies say they're struggling to find it.
"The challenge is there is no
framework, no rulebook. So in the
absence of a rulebook, the general
inclination is to not say anything,"
said London technology analyst
and consultant Carmi Levy.
"You have a general level of con-
servatism in many police forces
and, at the same time, you have a
growing expectation for informa-
tion in the public — and that just
sets the tone for frustration:"
Levy said the situation that
unfolded in Clinton highlights the
need for more discussion about
what the public should expect from
police and what police are willing
and able to provide.
***
In Clinton that Saturday
night, curious residents
did as many of us would
— they turned to the
area's most popular social
media hub. It happened to
be a local buy -and -sell
Facebook page.
What they got was like a
movie plot.
"Manhunt! Lockdown,"
were the words found on
Exeter's Buy & Sell, which
has 7,000 members.
There, plopped among the
ads for baby clothes and
furniture, was the simple
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question: 'What's going on in
Clinton?'
"It just blew up, said one Clinton
woman, who went online to find
out what was going on. By then, the
town's weather alert siren was
going off, alerting volunteer fire-
fighters to an unrelated fire — but
adding to the panic.
"All of a sudden, five messages
pop up at once. I was like, 'Holy s ---
I'm sitting here alone and reading
There's a manhunt going on. Clin-
ton's locked down. Nobody's get-
ting in, nobody's getting out' "
Rumours poured in so fast, the
site administrator deleted the
thread, saying her site was for trad-
ing only.
In response, hungry -for -infor-
mation users turned to a sister site,
Clinton's Buy & Sell, and hearsay
spread like wildfire on Facebook.
There was, we now know, a
shooter. But by all appearances, the
death of construction executive
Don Frigo — a hunting dog enthu-
siast who was riding horseback
with his wife Eva when he was shot
dead at the conservation area —
was already starting to look more
and more like a targeted incident.
Police may not have known that
immediately, so it would have been
inappropriate to publicly say that.
'All the police needed to say was,
'Yes, there is a man still out there,
we do not believe he's in the area'..
. At that point, nobody knew. Is he
in a car? Is he on foot? Is he break-
ing down doors? I was scared to
death, I just wanted to know ... 'am
I safe?" the woman said.
Retired Toronto police officer
Tim Burrows said police may have
known who they were looking for,
CONTINUED > PAGE 6
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