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Families in Pelican Narrows are keeping their children close and their doors locked this week as the RCMP continues searching for the suspect in a deadly shooting that has shaken the northern Saskatchewan community.
But local leaders say the fear now gripping the community did not begin with Monday’s homicide and it will not end when an arrest is made.
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“The people are still probably living in fear,” said Pelican Narrows Mayor Ovide Michel. “They walk in fear and probably go to sleep in fear, thinking the worst.”
The shooting left a 28-year-old woman dead and a man seriously injured. RCMP initially arrested a suspect but released the individual without charges as the investigation continued. Police have since released video of a person of interest and are asking the public for help identifying him.
For many residents, the latest homicide was not an isolated incident.
In early May, two men were seriously injured in a shooting in the community. Later that month, 26-year-old Jaden Custer was killed. RCMP also announced that human remains found near Pelican Narrows belonged to 16-year-old Jay’siiah Webb-Long, whose death is being investigated as a homicide.
Community leaders have also raised concerns about drive-by shootings, gang activity, drug trafficking and other violent incidents.
The string of violence prompted Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation leadership to publicly call for additional support from both the provincial and federal governments.
Michel said residents remain cautious while the latest suspect remains at large.
“My message would be right now to stay home right now, since we’re still on lockdown, and keep your children safe, keep your doors locked for now, for the time being, till things get better.”
However, Michel said the discussion needs to go beyond policing.
“We need support from our federal government, as well as provincial government,” he said.“We need programs that will support us through mental health and addictions.”
Michel said many northern residents face significant barriers when trying to access treatment and recovery services.
“We need structures built into the North because our closest one is La Ronge, and the people going to addiction centres are mainly going to the southern hub.”
He also called for more land-based and culturally focused healing programs.
“We need cultural camps where people go connect to the land to have some sense of connection with Mother Nature.”
Michel said he believes many of the community’s challenges have been building for years.
Asked when he first noticed gang and drug issues becoming more prominent, he pointed to what he described as the arrival of “cows and plows” money, a reference to agricultural benefit payments received by some residents.
“We call it the cows and plows. It’s agriculture benefits,” Michel said.
He said problems became more noticeable after more money began flowing into the community.
“Before that it was kind of quiet,” he said.
Michel stressed he was not interested in blaming individuals, adding that the focus should be on providing addiction, mental health and community supports.
Michel was also careful not to oversimplify the causes behind the violence.
“I’m never going to point fingers or misinform you or misjudge people when it comes to speaking to the media,” he said. “All I can say is we need support and to help our people suffering from this.”
Just one day before the shooting, Saskatchewan Community Safety Minister Michael Weger toured Pelican Narrows alongside local leaders.
Weger said he saw firsthand the challenges facing the community, including a newly established security checkpoint, a burned vehicle, a recently burned home and locations residents identified as suspected drug houses.
“The streets are quite quiet,” Weger said. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience for me as the Minister of Community Safety.”
Weger said drugs, alcohol and gang activity were frequently raised during conversations with community leaders.
“I think the main thing that’s fuelling it is alcohol and drugs, and there’s gang activity in the community as well,” he said. “When you put those factors together, you’re going to have some significant issues in your community.”
While Michel welcomed additional attention to Pelican Narrows, he said he was surprised he had not been informed of the minister’s visit.
“I never got an email or notification that he came to Pelican Narrows,” Michel said. “I never got to meet him.”
Michel said he would have welcomed the opportunity to show the minister firsthand what residents are experiencing.
“I would have gladly went out and reached out my hand and said, ‘Hey, come on buddy, help this community out.’”
The province has since deployed additional RCMP resources and members of the Saskatchewan Marshals Service to the area. Weger also pointed to plans for a rotational policing model that would bring additional officers into Pelican Narrows and other northern communities.
Still, Michel said enforcement alone will not solve the underlying issues and he stressed that what is happening in Pelican Narrows should not be viewed as unique.
“It’s not only Pelican Narrows,” Michel said. “This is happening all over the place.”
For now, residents continue waiting for answers in the homicide investigation while community leaders push for long-term solutions they hope will prevent future tragedies.
“I just hope it gets better going forward,” Michel said.
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