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A Former US Military Weapons Specialist Was Arrested in Canada for Allegedly Sending Deadly Chemicals Through the Mail

At the Chimo Hotel in Ottawa, Christopher Phillips was arrested after fleeing Nova Scotia.
Justin Ling
Montreal, CA

This post originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Dozens of people in two Canadian provinces have been evacuated after an American weapons expert sent hazardous materials to family members in Nova Scotia and then traveled partway across the country.

One of those evacuation orders is now over, after police failed to find any hazardous materials.

Christopher Phillips, an American, is reportedly an ex-military weapons specialist who may be suffering from PTSD, according to an internal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) communication. He allegedly drove from Halifax to Ottawa with highly toxic and volatile chemicals after possibly sending deadly packages to two addresses in Nova Scotia.

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Phillips's identity has not been publicly confirmed by either the Ottawa police or the RCMP.

On Monday, RCMP in Nova Scotia initially evacuated a location in Cole Harbor, just outside the provincial capital of Halifax. Police searched three locations and evacuated homes near each. All of the homes that received packages are reportedly owned by members of Phillips's family. Nova Scotia RCMP said they are maintaining a 250-meter cordon around Phillips' cottage.

The search eventually focused on a cottage in the small town of Grand Desert, near Halifax. There, according to an RCMP release, "police located hazardous and volatile chemicals."

Phillips's wife contacted police and informed them that Phillips was traveling west, to Ottawa. Police put out a nationwide notice for Phillips'd van.

Tuesday evening, an Ottawa patrol officer identified Phillips's van outside an east-end Chimo Hotel. They had the hotel evacuated overnight and sent in a tactical team to nab Phillips around 8:20 Wednesday morning.

By Wednesday afternoon, police cleared the hotel. They reported that "no hazardous materials were found." The evacuation order was lifted. A spokesperson for the Ottawa police said the entire operation revealed that there were no hazardous materials found at all. Police, however, did say that the risk he posed was "significant."

Police wouldn't confirm specifically if there were materials found in Phillips's van.

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The Ottawa police HAZMAT and bomb squads were sent in when Phillips was arrested. After he was arrested—without incident—he was led out of the building in a plastic suit in order to preserve evidence, police said.

Police aren't saying much more than that.

The US Department of Defense can't yet confirm anything about Phillips's weapons background, though officials told the Ottawa Sun they are investigating. Toronto Star reporter Joanna Smith reported that the Ottawa office of the US Department of Homeland Security was aiding in the investigation.

Phillips had been working as an eye surgeon in the States, and his LinkedIn profile says he was the manager of Neurology and Sleep Medicine Associates, Inc. while living in Nova Scotia. He was reportedly also married to gymnast Shannon Miller.

Phillips has some history of being litigious. He had gone after at least one Oklahoma newspaper for libel after it wrote that he closed his LASIK business. He appears to have launched at least half a dozen lawsuits, all of which were thrown out of court.

Court records filed in Seattle also suggest that Phillips was in dire financial straights. In one case, Phillips admitted to living on disability payments, seemingly due to mental illness.

According to the RCMP report sent out Tuesday, Phillips was transporting osmium tetroxide—that chemical has long been touted as a possible weapon.

According to an abstract of a 2007 study, "Although unsuitable for a large-scale terrorist attack, mainly due to its scarcity, [osmium tetroxide] could be used in small-scale attacks. The small quantity contained in a vial would cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin."

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Police haven't confirmed there were any explosives or weapons seized from Phillips. However, as that study notes, "combining the agent with an explosive material will probably destroy most of it, chemically. Thus, releasing the chemical without using explosives may be considerably more dangerous."

"It irritates the eyes, lungs, nose and throat. It leads to an asthma-like death, what we call a 'dry-land drowning,'" a scientist told ABC after British police foiled a 2004 terror plot involving the chemical.

Police say there are no indications this case is terror-related, but said the investigation is ongoing.

Charges have yet to be laid, though Ottawa police confirmed the investigation is being led by the Nova Scotia RCMP and, as such, Phillips will likely be transported back to Halifax to stand trial for any eventual charges he may face.

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