Police said that three other victims remain in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.TIMOTHY MATWEY/The Canadian Press
Police in Saskatchewan are still searching for two dangerous suspects more than a day after one man was shot dead and three people were seriously injured on Big Island Lake Cree Nation.
Cree leaders maintained a community-wide lockdown Wednesday. No arrests have been made and officers are continuing to investigate the motive behind the pre-dawn shooting on Tuesday, the RCMP said in a statement.
Police do not know whether the shooting was random or targeted. They also do not have any new information or identifying details about the suspects, two men believed to be armed with at least one gun, who were last seen driving an all-terrain vehicle in the area.
The small rural community of about 1,250 members, nearly 400 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon and close to Alberta, has blocked access for unauthorized people in and out of the area. Extra security and patrol officers have been provided by the Saskatchewan government.
Many residents of Big Island Lake were returning home from a late-night round dance in nearby Loon Lake when they heard the gunshots early Tuesday. Police now believe the shooting was largely confined to a single area, which they said was “an outside location” and not a residence or public business.
Neil Wahpistikwan, 31, has been identified by his family as the man killed in the shooting. His father, Larry Wahpistikwan, said he is trying to process the shock of his “youthful, outgoing, funny and fun-loving” son’s death.
“We’re all hurting right now,” he wrote in a brief text message to The Globe and Mail, asking for prayers. “Everyone knows everyone here and none of us have any answers about what happened.”
RCMP search for two armed men after deadly shooting on Saskatchewan First Nation
Police said that three other victims remain in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. RCMP declined to disclose the victims’ ages or genders, and would not state whether they were known to each other or the suspects.
Inspector Ashley St. Germaine of Saskatchewan RCMP’s major crimes branch said police are prepared to issue another dangerous persons alert should there be a renewed risk to public safety.
For more than 8½ hours until Tuesday evening, a wide-scale emergency alert urged residents to find a safe location and to lock their doors in the roughly 200-kilometre region between Meadow Lake, Sask., and Bonnyville, Alta. Seven health-care facilities nearby were also placed under lockdown, and have since reopened.
“When we decided to cancel the dangerous persons alert, we considered several factors, including the amount of time that had passed since the shooting, that the incident was contained to one location, and that no additional victims were found,” Insp. St. Germaine said.
She added that no other incidents related to the case occurred overnight after the alert was cancelled. “We will continue to monitor the risk.”
In a statement, Big Island Lake Cree Nation Chief David Sandfly encouraged tips from the public to assist the homicide investigation.
“Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this tragedy,” he said.
“When you share what you know with police, you help keep our community safe. Our leadership urges anyone with information about this shooting to contact RCMP immediately – even the smallest detail could make a difference.”