A Saskatchewan conservation officer conducts a road blockade at Big Island Lake Cree Nation on Dec. 30.TIMOTHY MATWEY/The Canadian Press
RCMP continued to search overnight for two armed suspects after a shooting killed one man and injured at least three people on Big Island Lake Cree Nation, a small community in western Saskatchewan close to Alberta.
Police were alerted to the shooting on Tuesday around 6 a.m. By early afternoon, the RCMP had located multiple victims, though they were not yet able to identify them or disclose the full extent of their injuries as of late evening. The family of Neil Wahpistikwan identified the young man on social media as the person who died in the shooting.
Investigators are working to determine whether the shooting was random or targeted, and if it was confined to a single location, said Inspector Ashley St. Germaine of Saskatchewan RCMP’s major crimes branch.
The unnamed suspects, two men believed to be armed with at least one gun, were last seen riding an all-terrain vehicle in the area. However, police do not have a description of them, their clothes or their vehicles because the shooting occurred in the dark before sunrise, Insp. St. Germaine told reporters at a conference call.
An emergency alert for dangerous persons was cancelled Tuesday evening after lasting 8½ hours, as police no longer believed there was an imminent risk to public safety.
But RCMP clarified that the suspects have not yet been arrested and that another alert may be issued if there is a renewed risk.
The wide-scale initial alert, affecting a roughly 200-kilometre region between Meadow Lake, Sask., and Bonnyville, Alta., had urged residents to find a safe location and to lock their doors.
Cree leaders have imposed a lockdown on Big Island Lake, which is around 325 kilometres northeast of Edmonton and about 395 km northwest of Saskatoon. No one may enter or leave the community of about 1,250 members, except emergency vehicles and personnel.
Insp. St. Germaine said she understands that the limited information the RCMP are able to provide might cause distress. “We are working as efficiently and diligently as possible to try to determine who’s responsible for this homicide and this shooting,” she said.
Mr. Wahpistikwan’s father, Larry, requested privacy to process the news of his young son’s death, writing in a short message to The Globe and Mail that many community members were just returning home from a late-night round dance in nearby Loon Lake when they heard the gunshots early Tuesday morning.
“I’m devastated,” Mr. Wahpistikwan said.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said seven health care facilities in the area were also placed under lockdown.
“Our thoughts are with the community and all those affected,” Mr. Moe said in a brief statement. “We thank the first responders for their efforts under difficult and evolving circumstances.”
Over the years, leaders on Big Island Lake have been frequently outspoken about the rural community’s struggles with gang activity.
As police continued to knock on doors and speak with witnesses Tuesday, the Cree Nation’s band manager Geoffrey Sandfly said there is a dire need for better security in the region.
“We’re doing our best with this loss and terrifying situation. Everyone here is shocked and scared,” he said in an interview. “But we need help in the longer term. We need our governments to step up for us.”
Insp. St. Germaine said any tips from the public about the suspects’ whereabouts are encouraged.
She said police are not sure whether the men had multiple guns, if they remain in the community or if they have made their way from Saskatchewan to Alberta. RCMP in both provinces are working together, but Mounties in Alberta did not issue any alerts in their jurisdiction, she added.
Insp. St. Germaine said she could not definitively state that there was more than one crime scene in the case. But asked whether the incident had occurred at an indoor setting such as a residence or public business, the senior investigative inspector said police believe at least one part of the shooting occurred “at an outside location.”
She said her RCMP major crimes branch only took over the case in the afternoon after local police detachments determined it was safe for investigators to attend the scene.
She said inclement weather, including bouts of freezing rain, also delayed the investigation. “We do want to make sure that our investigators are able to get there safely, just like anybody else using the highway,” Insp. St. Germaine said.
Resources from across the province are being pulled together to find the suspects, she said.
“This is not an unusual file for us to be managing. And I absolutely believe that we have resourced the investigation properly at this point in time.”
With a report from Willow Fiddler