Fatal shooting of 15-year-old by RCMP leaves Samson Cree Nation reeling, chief says
CBC
The chief of the Samson Cree Nation says the death of a 15-year-old boy shot by police is a "tough loss" for the community that has impacted many.
"You just feel this ripple and energy in the community about this," Chief Vernon Saddleback said.
The teen, from Samson Cree Nation, was fatally shot by officers Friday morning following a "confrontation," police said.
Saddleback said the loss is significant and many people have been supporting the boy's family. He said the family wants to honour his memory.
"When I sat with them, they just wanted to remind everybody out there that this young man who was killed had a story, that he had a life, that he had a reason, there was a purpose, there was a meaning to his life. And they didn't want anyone to forget that," he said in an interview Monday.
Chief Saddleback said he wants better outcomes for his people and also extended his condolences to the RCMP members involved in the shooting.
"It's not a chief thing, it's a people thing. My hope out of all of this is that we do talk, we do learn some lessons, and we try and make life better just for everybody. This is very painful for the community."
Saddleback says the boy's family will speak publicly, once they have laid him to rest.
Officers found the boy in Wetaskiwin, Alta., a city just north of the First Nation, with "several weapons" early Friday morning, RCMP said in a news release Friday.
Officers were able to confiscate them, but a "confrontation" occurred that led to two Mounties firing their guns. The boy later died in hospital.
Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations Cody Thomas told CBC in an interview that the loss is profound.
"Somebody at that age is so young and the traumatic losses that we've been feeling in First Nations country because we're such small communities and we've been going through a lot of losses," he said.
"It's not just us as Enoch, [it's] throughout Turtle Island, Treaty 6, all my brothers and sisters, relations, we all share the same grief, loss."
Thomas said the teen's death hits close to home because he has a son the same age.
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