Amber Alert cancelled after child found safe in Hamilton

UPDATED

A two-year-old girl from Brantford who was the subject of an overnight Amber Alert has been found safe in Hamilton.

Brantford police responded to a 911 call about a child abduction at a home on Bissett Ave. shortly after midnight Thursday.

Police say an unknown number of people went to the front door of the home and when the child’s mother answered, the “estranged” father allegedly broke in through the back door.

“The suspect was confronted by the mother who was then assaulted and threatened,” said Brantford police in a news release. “The suspect was then confronted by another resident inside the house who was also assaulted.”

Police allege the father, 37-year-old Shawn McManus, grabbed the toddler and fled in a vehicle with three other people around 12:18 a.m.

Hamilton police were contacted by Brantford investigators who believed the group may have gone to a home in the Hamilton area.

Shortly before 1 a.m., Hamilton officers checked the home but the child and her father were not there.

An Amber Alert was subsequently issued after Brantford police managed to make contact with the girl’s father but he would not disclose his location or return the child.

Around 2 a.m., Hamilton police located the suspect vehicle near Upper Ottawa St. and three people were arrested. The child, however, was not inside the car.

Police then received a tip that the father and child were at a home in the Central Mountain area.

Officers attended just before 3 a.m., and after about an hour of “communication” with a 37-year-old man, he surrendered and handed over his two-year-old daughter unharmed.

Brantford police say they are continuing to investigate this incident and the circumstances surrounding the four people who were involved.

Correction: Police previously stated the child and her father were located on foot but later confirmed they were found inside a townhome.