Teenager charged with murder after La Loche shootings
Posted January 22, 2016 1:44 pm.
Last Updated January 23, 2016 2:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LA LOCHE, Sask (NEWS 1130) – Police say a 17-year-old has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in northern Saskatchewan.
Police say the male can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Four are dead after a shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan. Several others are hurt and a suspect is in custody.
“At the present time, there are four individuals deceased as a result of this tragedy. There are other injuries, and they’re being treated by health care professionals at this time,” says RCMP Chief Superintendent Maureen Levy.
La Loche acting mayor Kevin Janvier has told The Associated Press his 23-year old daughter Marie, a teacher, was among the four people killed.
He says police told him that the gunman first shot two of his siblings before killing his daughter.
“He shot two of his brothers at his home and made his way to the school,” he said.
“I’m just so sad.”
Marie was Janvier’s only child. He said he didn’t know if the shooter knew his daughter.
A new teacher is also among the dead.
Adam Wood started teaching in September at the junior and senior high school in La Loche.
His family in Ontario says in a statement that he was an adventurer with a passion for life who made people laugh.
The other two victims were brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine, believed to have been shot in a nearby home.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had suggested that five were dead. He was speaking from Davos, Switzerland, where is is attending the World Economic Forum.
“The alleged shooter is in custody right now. Police have assured me that the situation is under control,” he said.
Police have only described the suspect as “male,” adding a firearm was seized.
The shooting happened at the La Loche Community School’s junior and senior high school building, which was put in lockdown. Mounties asked parents and residents to stay away. The Ducharme Elementary School a few blocks away was also locked down as a precaution.
Grade 10 student Noel Desjarlais-Thomas says he ran from the after hearing shots and seeing a friend fall to the ground. “You know how it is. Something happens, you gotta go for your life… I was running and didn’t want to look back.”
“What I’d seen today was something unordinary [sic]. I didn’t expect that to happen today. I just thought it was going to be a normal Friday. And then… that happened,” he adds.
Geordie Janvier, 16, says he was walking in the halls when shots rang out.
“We were going back to gym class… That’s when I heard the first shot… I ran to the gym class, closed the door, and ran into the dressing room. We stayed there three hours.”
Mounties say their investigation is focused around two locations, including a home.
“This is every parent’s worst nightmare. When I spoke with community leaders, they obviously expressed that the community is reeling. All of us across this country, hearts are going out to the families and to the whole community,” says Trudeau.
“We all grieve with and stand with the community of La Loche and all of Saskatchewan on this terrible, tragic day,”
NDP MP Georgina Jolibois is the former mayor of La Loche.
“I am shaken and saddened by the shooting at the high school. The community is shaken up, though the community is a fairly strong community and will come together,” says Joibois.
Buckley Belanger, the MLA for the area, says the La Loche Community School was a place of hope in the remote community.
“The school was the centre of the community. They had done so many wonderful things for that town and for the kids… Now’s the time for prayer because we need it more than ever.”
Premier Brad Wall has issued the following statement:
La Loche is a remote community of around 3,000 people in northern Saskatchewan at the edge of a lake. The closest larger communities are Fort McMurray, Alberta and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
There is one hospital in the town.
Just three per cent of the community identifies as non-Aboriginal.
“We are shocked and saddened by this incident and the reports of injuries and deaths in La Loche, Saskatchewan,” says Assembly of First Nations National Chief Bellegarde.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this situation and we send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims in this tragic incident.”
Politicians and police across Canada expressing grief
