School Shooting in Saskatchewan: 4 dead [Update]

[Northern_Piper]

La Loche, Sask., shooting leaves 4 dead, others wounded, RCMP say - ‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare,’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says

A small community in northern Saskatchewan is reeling after shootings at two locations left four people dead.

Several others were wounded in the violence in La Loche, which has a population of about 3,000 people.

“I feel like I’m in a nightmare and I want to wake up,” said Diane Janvier, who told CBC News that one of the victims was her niece.

RCMP confirmed the deaths during a news conference Friday night in Regina, and added that a male suspect was in custody and the immediate threat was over.

“There’s no risk to public safety at this time,” Chief Supt. Maureen Levy, a senior officer for the Saskatchewan RCMP, said, adding she could not provide details on the number of people wounded or the nature of their injuries.

Horrible.

[Bricker]

Oh, no.

I’m in Virginia, which is inundated with a blizzard and the news coverage about the blizzard, so this is the first I have heard of this.

Prayers for the souls of those lost, and for the families devastated by this horrible tragedy.

[Northern_Piper]

Thanks, Bricker

Additional coverage from CNN and the NYTimes:

Four dead, several injured in shooting in Saskatchewan school

The Star Phoenix newspaper quoted a student who said he was returning from lunch when shots were fired at the school. He said friends ran past him urging him to get out.

“Run, bro, run!” Noel Desjarlais-Thomas, 16, said his friends told him as they fled. “There’s a shotgun! There’s a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots, too, so of course I started running.”

School coordinator Norma Janvier told the Star Phoenix she was in her office when she heard shots.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I thought the kids were just playing around or something, like a locker slamming and stuff.”

She said another teacher stopped her from leaving the office so she waited until someone said it was safe.

“All I heard was cops running around in the school,” she said.

Four Killed in Saskatchewan School Shooting

Chief Superintendent Maureen Levy told a news conference in Regina, Saskatchewan, that one male, whose age and name she declined to disclose, was in police custody and that a firearm had been seized.

She offered few details about the shooting, which began just after lunchtime, but she said that there was no further danger to people in La Loche, a remote community of about 2,600.
…
Georgina Jolibois, the local member of Parliament and a former mayor of La Loche, said in a statement, “The shooting hits close to home for me as my family members attend the school.”
…
The town’s acting mayor, Kevin Janvier, said that his daughter, Marie, a teacher at the school, was among the dead, according to The Associated Press.

The La Loche Community School has about 900 students in classes from junior kindergarten to Grade 12. A Facebook post by the school said that the episode had occurred in a building for Grades 7 to 12.

The local population is largely aboriginal Canadian. Hunting and fishing are popular activities in the area, and hunting rifles are relatively common.

[Digital_is_the_new_Analog]

I shared this on Facebook yesterday when I ran across the article. I have a handful of Canadian friends. Also, it’s important to keep up on events outside my country. Especially when it’s something like this.

[Bullitt]

How terrible. La Loche is some 500 miles north of Regina - that is quite far north and I imagine it is in pretty rural country.

I pray for the victims and their families and loved ones.

[mind_the_gap]

This is fully messed up. My heart goes out to those folks. I’m so tired of hearing this type of news.:mad:

[Northern_Piper]

‘They were good students’: community mourns La Loche victims at vigil

Lyle Herman, a substitute teacher at the school, told Global News his cousin was one of the victims.

“[Friday] was a hard day, we have lost family members, friends,” he said. “It affects all of us, not just because I work here, but as a community. Everybody knows each other…”

He said the four people killed consisted of two students, one teacher and one teacher’s assistant.

The acting mayor of La Loche, Kevin Janvier, said his daughter Marie was among those killed. She worked at the school.

Janvier also said that police told him the gunman was believed to have first shot two of his own siblings.

[Northern_Piper]

wiki article on La Loche

[Magiver]

@Northern_Piper

‘They were good students’: community mourns La Loche victims at vigil

were the siblings of the shooter at the school or are there more casualties.

[Tom_Tildrum]

I’m so sorry to hear this news.

La Loche sounds like a troubled community, with a very high rate of suicide. The same demons may have driven this boy to do this. Let’s hope that the response to this tragedy can bring attention and help more broadly.

[Gorsnak]

@Magiver

were the siblings of the shooter at the school or are there more casualties.

Latest reporting is that the two siblings were killed at their residence, then the shooter went to the school, killed two teachers and injured several other people. The Mounties haven’t been saying much.

[Northern_Piper]

@Magiver

were the siblings of the shooter at the school or are there more casualties.

Four deaths in total; RCMP have not given details yet about locations, other than to say that the investigation is taking place at two locations, the school and another location in town.

[ZipperJJ]

How awful. Awful that this can and does happen anywhere. Peace to the people of La Loche.

[Muffin]

We have a very long way to go. This hurts.

[Muffin]

Sometimes life is very, very unfair. Unfair for the family and friends in their loss, who move on with part of their lives missing to a greater or lesser degree. Even unfair for the murderer who grew up in a northern aboriginal community amid the challenges that often go along with that. But most of all, incomprehensibly and brutally unfair for the victims, with their lives cut short: good people with good lives, making the world around them a better place, ended in moments of horror.

Thank you, Adam, for what you brought to us in the Northshore Telemark Ski School. I am so very sorry that your life was stolen from you.

[Gorsnak]

Update

A 17-year-old male suspect has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. The suspect will make a court appearance next week. He cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

[Muffin]

@Muffin

Thank you, Adam, for what you brought to us in the Northshore Telemark Ski School. I am so very sorry that your life was stolen from you.

Looking back (or backside – yellow bathing suit) at the good times.

[Muffin]

From CBC:

Full statement from Adam Wood’s family:

"On Christmas day, we sat around the kitchen table for one of the last meals as a whole family, and we spoke about La Loche. Adam shared the joys and struggles of being a teacher, his passion for his work, and the potential of his students. Needless to say, we are devastated. We find ourselves in moments of despair thinking, “Why did it have to be Adam?” But really, the question is, “Why did this have to happen?” It is in these moments, when tragedy strikes, that we are able to stop and consider life: it’s frailty, challenges, its laughter, and its tears. It is in these moments we are given the opportunity to examine ourselves and hopefully, come out better and stronger as a community and a nation. We feel sadness and remorse but rarely do we use that to fuel change.

As communities come together to support one another, we must ask how to prevent anyone from experiencing a loss of this kind. Rather than looking for someone to blame, or coming up with outsider opinions of reasons why this occurred, we must stop and listen to the voices of La Loche. The leaders and members of the community know what types of support and changes are needed. Our responsibility as a nation is to listen and respond to create lasting systemic change.

Today La Loche and surrounding Dene communities are coming together in candlelight vigils to mourn, to grieve, and to envision a different future. That is where the story is. With family and friends, we are sharing stories and memories about who Adam was and the life he lived. But the real news story is the loss, grief, and challenges faced by those in La Loche and surrounding Dene Nations."

[Spoons]

Muffin, did you know the young man from Uxbridge?

I have been to Uxbridge many times, as it was just up the road from Stouffville, where I used to live. It is a nice little town, full of friendly people.

I am saddened at the loss of Adam, and he and his family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[Muffin]

Yes, we skied together for a few years at Loch Lomond in Thunder Bay. A super nice guy. Kind, involved, encouraging, helpful, humorous – a leader in the best sense of the word.

Our telemark ski school in Thunder Bay is run out Lakehead University, with most of the people involved in the outdoor education program. While here in TBay, Adam was one of the people who kept all the balls in the air. And you don’t have to think too hard about what he did when he became a teacher in La Loche – he started a cross-country ski club for his students.

The students in the program often grow quite close (that’s pretty much the norm with outdoor adventure), so even years later people often are still in touch. For example, one of Adam’s close friends (who has noted that Adam was one of the finest people he has ever known) is the boyfriend of the woman who presently runs the ski school, several of Adam’s cadre are in regular touch with me through Facebook, and a couple of his cadre joined us on the slopes two weeks back when they were passing through town. After convocation, the students fly to the four winds (as we speak, from Hays River, to Australia, with several climbing and skiing in the Rockies), but they keep in touch with each other.

There is a fair bit of interaction between the outdoor ed students and folks in the community, such as myself (I’m the geezer who has been with the ski school since the dawn of time), so our skills get passed down through sharing together in the activities. And as with any college town, often students come from away develop relationships with townies. That’s how Adam met his girlfriend. Her father (a close friend of one of my close friends through ww kayaking) went out from Thunder Bay to La Loche immediately to help her.

I’ve lost a couple of friends who died doing what they loved – risk comes with outdoor adventure, so although it is very hard it can be rationalized, but being shot while trying to help a community? That is something very far beyond the pale.