The community of Pelican Narrows wants the public to know that Monday’s events do not accurately reflect the people that live there.
On Monday, one 28-year-old woman was killed, and a man was seriously injured in an early afternoon shooting. Investigators believe there was an altercation at a home involving a group of people who knew each other. The woman was shot at the home while the man was injured minutes later on the road near the local health clinic. Officers arrested two people on Monday, both of whom have since been released.
Councilor Olivia Custer says the violence of a few is attempting to taint the entire community.
“What happened on Monday is not who we are. This is being done to us by organized crime, by addictions, and by decades of neglect.”
Pelican Narrows has since closed all facilities including schools, administrative buildings, and healthcare centres, as a suspect has not been pinned down. The closures are in effect until Monday.
Justin Halcrow is the Vice Chief of Peter Ballentyne Cree Nation. He says it’s disheartening to know that the suspect is still at large.
“It’s very troublesome for our community. They’re in a state of high alert. They’re traumatized with the incidents that happened.”
However, he says even though a suspect has not been arrested, the threat to the public is very low, as there is heavy police presence in the community.
“The risk to public safety is low because of the presence of all the RCMP embers in the community, such as the SIRT Team, the Emergency Response Team, the Saskatchewan Marshals, and all the external security we’ve hired.”
He adds that at the time of the shooting, security checkpoints were set up at the community access point, and outsiders were not being allowed in via roadway due to ongoing gang and crime activity. This leads him to think the suspect was either already in the community, or they entered via Moose Lake.
RCMP have since released a short video of a suspect running down a road. The suspect appears to be a male, wearing all black and carrying a handgun and a cellphone. Anyone with information is asked to contact RCMP.
