EDITORIAL: The gunman was Bobbie Hallaert

The Sault Ste. Marie gunman who unleashed a murderous rampage earlier this week — killing three children and a woman before turning the gun on himself — was 44-year-old Bobbie Hallaert.

For a lot of local residents, this is hardly breaking news. Within hours of the shootings, many around town, including SooToday, knew the identities of the victims and their killer. Photos were widely shared on social media and condolences poured in.

But unlike so many tragedies we cover, this case was different: a 45-year-old woman had survived the attack, shot but rushed to hospital.

Sault Police quickly declared the massacre a case of intimate partner violence, one of the worst imaginable examples. And because police — and the media — don’t typically release details that could identify a surviving victim of domestic violence, law enforcement did not disclose any personal information. 

That included the name of the killer, the names and genders of the children (aged six, seven and 12), and the name of the 41-year-old woman who did not survive.

We knew who they were. So did many of you. We just didn’t publicize it, choosing instead to respect the privacy of a woman now left to grieve an unthinkable loss. As a media outlet, we make that same decision every time we cover a court case involving a victim of intimate partner violence.

That said, SooToday cannot ignore the fact that many other news organizations, including The Canadian Press, have identified the killer as Bobbie Hallaert. Over the past few hours, his name and photograph have been widely shared across the country and beyond. We can’t pretend that’s not happening.

Moving forward in our coverage, SooToday will identify Hallaert by name, while continuing to report on what we know about his life in the months and weeks leading up to the murders. But like before, our journalism will always be thoughtful and respectful of the victims left behind.

Michael Friscolanti is the Editor-in-Chief of Village Media, which operates SooToday