LaRoche Shooting Suspect To Appear In Court

Premier Brad Wall and opposition leader Cam Broten were both in the community this weekend to express condolences.

“Our prayers are with you”.

The suspect was arrested outside the school on Friday afternoon.

Adam Wood and Marie Janvier have been identified by family and friends as having been gunned down at the junior and senior high school in La Loche Friday.

Police then went to a home a couple of blocks away, where the Fontaine brothers were found dead.

Trudeau last month promised a new “nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples” – a term that aboriginals use to refer to themselves – and said he would increase funding for indigenous communities.

In a statement, the family said the leaders of the village must be heard to prevent similar losses in the future.

“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”.

As an example of the community’s isolation, Fort MacMurray, Alta., which is only about 100 kilometres west of La Loche, requires a circuitous drive of almost 10 hours.

The head of a group representing 65,000 aboriginals in northern Manitoba, which borders Saskatchewan, said the tragedy showed the need for major investments in mental health, education and the economy. Neither boy could describe what form the teasing took, other than recalling jokes were made or people would act “tough” toward him. Three of those deaths happened in the span of 30 days in the fall.

“Everyday in Saskatchewan, we send our kids to school because its a safe place for them to learn and to grow”.

There is little to do for most young people, who after graduating must consider leaving the community to find work.

A 17-year-old was taken into custody and was due to make his first appearance in provincial court in Meadow Lake Monday.

One community member who has a child at the school said the accused was a loner who was teased and bullied because “he’s got big ears”.

Wall spoke at a news conference Saturday, where he addressed the situation and how the province will help the community move forward. Some of them attended mass. He said they are “good people” and should not be blamed for the young man’s alleged actions. Even before the shooting, a crime-reduction team was dispatched to La Loche in the past year and the town’s high school underwent a violence threat assessment.

Tashina Montgrand lays flowers outside the La Loche Community School as her daughters Tayala and Tayvah look on in La Loche, Sask., Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

From there, they were joined by La Loche Mayor Kevin Janvier as they laid a wreath at a makeshift memorial set up in front of the high school.

The school was built in 1974 and underwent extensive renovations in 2006.