YARMOUTH, N.S. – A 22-year-old Yarmouth man has been charged with attempted murder following an incident last week in which another man was injured from a gunshot.
Ronald Dempsey Higby, of Yarmouth, was arrested without incident in the early evening hours of March 1 on a wooded trail near Ellis Road in Yarmouth County.
He now faces charges of attempted murder with a firearm, endangering the life of a person, breach of probation, and a number of other firearms offences.
He appeared in Yarmouth Provincial Court on Monday, March 5, and is being held in custody until his next court appearance on April 3.
On Thursday evening, March 1, the RCMP said a 32-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries as a result of an alleged shooting incident. The RCMP responded to an area of Regent Street.
The RCMP said a 911 caller told police that there were people smashing a parked vehicle and then gunshots were heard in the area.
RCMP Corporal Jennifer Clarke says when the RCMP arrived on the scene they discovered the injured man.
As part of their investigation last week the RCMP called in the resources of the Yarmouth County Ground Search and Rescue Team to do a search of the area. In a March 5 media release the RCMP said searchers “located parts of the firearm and some ammunition believed to have been used by the suspect in this incident.”
In a media release last week the RCMP had said when they arrested a man on the wooded trail, a second person had fled the scene on foot.
The RCMP also said a suspect vehicle, identified as a red pickup truck, was located by an RCMP officer but police said that vehicle sped away from the scene. The RCMP did not locate that vehicle that night and had turned to the public for any information they had on the incident or the occupant(s) of the truck. Asked Monday if they had since identified these occupants, Cpl. Clarke said, “We've only made the one arrest and without getting into it too much I can’t really say too much about what their status is. It’s an ongoing investigation and that’s really all I can say on it.”
The RCMP also seized a truck last Thursday that had been burnt on Regent Street. The Yarmouth Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 7:22 p.m. and returned to the station at 8:11 p.m.
On Monday, Cpl. Clarke said the RCMP were still seeking the public’s help with information about the incident.
“We want information to help figure out what happened,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Yarmouth Rural RCMP Detachment at 902-742-9106 or 1-800-803-RCMP (7267).
If people have information about this incident but wish to remain anonymous they can contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or text TIP202 + your message to 'CRIMES' (274637) or submit tips by Secure Web Tips at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.
