RCMP's fatal shooting of 17-year-old boy 'ripping a hole' in Norway House Cree Nation
CBC
The grandparents of a teen who was killed by RCMP in a northern Manitoba First Nation say they can't fathom why police would see the need to use lethal force on the boy they helped raise since he was a toddler.
Elgyn Muskego was shot by RCMP in the early hours of Friday on Norway House Cree Nation, about 460 kilometres north of Winnipeg. He was 17.
Police say the teen was holding an edged weapon, and that he didn't drop it despite numerous demands for him to do so. The RCMP says that when he moved closer to the officers, one of them shot him.
Charles Ettawacappo, Elgyn's grandfather, said there were many other means police could have used to subdue him that wouldn't have led to his grandson's death.
"There [was] two of them, and there's one little boy," he said. "Use a stun gun, other means. He was just a little boy. He was 17 years old."
Elgyn had been living with Ettawacappo and his wife, Kathy, on and off since he was around three years old, Charles said. The couple said their grandson was a loving boy who cared deeply about his siblings and loved ice fishing, Skidooing, and being outdoors.
Kathy said that during the pandemic, the teen struggled with the isolation which led to mental health struggles and substance use. But his grandparents said he was getting his life back on track.
He was set to receive his high school diploma in June, they said.
"My wife's taking it really hard, and I'm taking it really hard," Charles said. "We didn't think we were going to lose him so young."
The couple last saw Elgyn before they left Norway House to visit Charles' sister, Shirley, in Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre Thursday.
Kathy Ettawacappo said one of Elgyn's aunts messaged her about the shooting minutes after Shirley passed away.
"She's telling me Elgyn's been shot by the RCMP. He's in the ambulance. They're doing CPR on him," Kathy said.
"We left from the hospital ... My sister told me over the phone that he was gone, that my grandson passed away.
"I was devastated. This is my son that I raised like my own.… It's been so difficult without him, without seeing him here. He would be here right now if he was alive, in my home."
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