Canada school shooting: Five Dead in School Shooting
According to media reports Friday, five people have died in a shooting in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche.
Two others are in critical condition, he said.
According to eyewitnesses, a shooter approached the community school (with grades 7 to 12) and shots were fired outside and inside the building sometime after the noon hour.
RCMP in Saskatchewan confirmed that “several individuals are deceased” and that a suspect was taken into custody. They were called about “an active shooter” at 1 p.m. CST and said they had a suspect in custody 45 minutes later.
Five are dead and two critically wounded after the shooting at La Loche Community School in northern Saskatchewan. (Canadian Press)
The suspect was arrested outside the school and a firearm was seized. Another school in the community, for elementary grades, was also put under a lockdown.
RCMP did not provide identities of the deceased and did not have further information on the number of people injured.
“We have no idea what happened and how it happened and why it happened,” Kevin Janvier, acting deputy mayor of La Loche, said. “It’s something we should never hear of happening and it’s happened today.”
He said people were gathering at the community hall where grief counselling would be available.
Canada’s Prime Minister offered his condolences to the families following School Shooting in Canada
“Obviously this is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Trudeau said Friday in a brief statement from Davos, Switzerland. “The community is reeling and all of us across this country, [our] hearts are going out to the families and to the whole community.”
Prime Minister Trudeau also thanked first responders who reacted “quickly and bravely” in what he called a “tragic and terrible day.”
Multiple sources report a shooting at a school in Laloche, in northern Saskatchewan, Friday. (Facebook)
La Loche is a community of about 3,000.
“I ran outside the school,” Noel Desjarlais, a Grade 10 student at the school, told CBC News. “There was lots of screaming. There was about six, seven shots before I got outside. I believe there was more shots by the time I did get out.”
“Myself I’m fine,” he said. “I ended up running and telling people [to] get out the doors.”
My deepest condolences on behalf of the American people to all affected by today's shooting in La Loche. https://t.co/HTttg1uQpj
— Bruce A. Heyman (@BruceAHeyman) January 23, 2016
Saskatchewan’s air ambulance system was dispatched to La Loche, which is about 300 miles northwest of Prince Albert, Sask., around 1:35 p.m. CST.
“We are in shock and in disbelief upon hearing about the tragedy in La Loche,” Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said in a statement Friday. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, the children, the students and the entire community of La Loche in the wake of today’s horrible incident.”
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall also issued a statement Friday.
“Words cannot express my shock and sorrow at the horrific events today in La Loche,” Wall said. “My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, their families and friends and all the people of the community. Thank you to the RCMP and all the emergency personnel who responded quickly to the shootings. Saskatchewan Education and Social Services will be available to provide all necessary crisis support and counselling services to the school and the community.”
NDP MP Georgina Jolibois, who has served as mayor of the community in the past, said she was “shocked and saddened” by the shootings.
“The shooting hits close to home for me as my family members attend the school,” she said in a statement.
She added that the community “has faced adversity in the past and we will persevere,” adding that her thoughts and prayers were with everyone affected by the shooting.
