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Police ID victim of Sunday's Pearl Street murder

James Chapais, 41, was killed in a shooting incident.
James Chapais
James Chapais (Facebook)

THUNDER BAY – Police have identified the victim of Pearl Street shooting death as 41-year-old James Chapais of Thunder Bay.

Chapais was pronounced dead on Sunday night and police said they believe the incident was a targeted incident.

Two people have been arrested, and a third is being sought.

James Howard Halverson, 49, faces a charge first-degree and breach of undertaking. He was taken into custody on Wednesday.

Two days earlier police arrested 44-year-old Jaime Kim Osmar, who was charged with the identical offences as Halverson.

Det.-Insp. Jeremy Pearson said police were called to a residence in the 200 block of Pearl Street. On Monday, a number of people were detained at an Ambrose Street home as part of the ongoing investigation.

Pearson said the third suspect’s identity is still not known.

“At this point in the investigation, the identity is ongoing,” Pearson said on Thursday, reminding the public not to approach the suspect, acknowledging that’s a tough ask for someone who remains publicly anonymous.

“It’s difficult with a suspect who is as yet unidentified. However, we felt it prudent to advise the public that the individual was armed and dangerous and still being actively sought by police,” Pearson said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into an investigation like this. There’s the entire forensic identification unit portion of the investigation and the processing of the scene, the review of the results of those and the review of the results of the post-mortem examination and the report that’s generated there.”

Pearson said police continue to interview potential witnesses and are looking for witnesses to come forward. He added it's too early in the investigation to determine the reason for the shooting or if it was related to the drug trade, which has been later cited in relation to a large number of recent Thunder Bay homicides. 

“There’s still a police presence in the area, despite the fact the scene has been released and we’re doing all of the follow-up work that’s required.”

Anyone with information is asked to phone police at 684-1200 or call Crime Stoppers.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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