Salluit man injured in gun fight with police

A Salluit man is expected to be medevaced to a Montreal hospital after sustaining injuries in an exchange of gunfire with police from the Kativik Regional Police Force on May 31.

Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Marie-Josée Ouellet said KRPF members responded to a call at a Salluit residence at about 10:30 p.m. May 31.

“When they arrived they found an armed man outside the house who shot in their direction,” Ouellet said.

The police responded and the man was hit by a bullet.

Brought to the local clinic, he will be medevaced to a hospital in Montreal when his condition stabilizes, Ouellet said.

The investigation into the incident has now been transferred to the major crimes division of the SQ.

No details were available about what charges may be laid in connection with the incident.

In addition to determining the nature of the crimes committed, the SQ also looked at the circumstances around the shooting.

That’s because whenever a police force is involved in a shooting, the opinion of an outside force is required by law. In some cases, investigators may recommend that charges of murder or attempted murder be laid against the police or that no charges be laid.

According to statistics by the KRPF tabled June 1 at the Kativik Regional Government meeting in Kangirsuk, 76 assaults against its members took place between January and March of this year.

Nine of these assaults took place in Salluit, a community of about 1,300 on the Hudson Strait.

No details were provided on the number of firearms incidents, but a total of 288 criminal offenses were recorded in Salluit during the first three months of the year, up from 258 during the same period of 2010.