Nunavut RCMP stop Pangnirtung youth’s shooting spree

A 16-year-old youth is undergoing a psychological assessment after firing nearly a dozen rifle rounds around Pangnirtung Sept. 19. (FILE PHOTO)

A Pangnirtung boy who fired 11 rifle rounds into the air at several locations around the Baffin community of about 1,500 people is now undergoing a psychological assessment by mental health professionals, the RCMP said Sept. 19.

Just after midnight on Sept. 19, the Pangnirtung RCMP received a report that a suicidal 16-year-old boy near the community’s health centre had discharged a firearm, the RCMP said in a release sent out during the afternoon of Sept. 19.

The youth left the area and discharged a firearm into the air at several locations, including the Attagoyuk High School, the post office and the beach area before returning to the health centre “and discharging additional rounds into the air at that location,” police said.

A total of 11 rounds from a .223-calibre rifle were discharged, the RCMP said.

“Children were in the vicinity where some of the shots were fired,” it noted.

Officers located and arrested the teen, and seized the firearm.

“Fortunately, nobody was injured during this incident,” police said, but “criminal charges are anticipated.”

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the names of offenders younger than 18 must not be published or broadcast.

Police said that building awareness of the dangers of using firearms in a careless manner could help “prevent these sort of occurrences from happening.”

In June, Yvonne Niego, Nunavut’s assistant deputy minister of justice and a former RCMP officer, told Nunatsiaq News that the territory’s new crime prevention strategy was intended to become a tool to curb firearms incidents.

Among the keys to preventing violence: encouraging Nunavummiut to seek out the help that’s already present in communities before volatile situations escalate, and developing new community-based prevention programs, she said.

Niego said then that the RCMP generally deals with one firearms incident every two to three days—although one week in mid-June produced several such back-to-back incidents, involving youth.

To keep guns secure, trigger locks are available free of charge to any resident of Nunavut as part of the RCMP’s Safe Communities initiative, by contacting the detachment, the RCMP’s recent release said.

And if you find yourself in crisis, you can call the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line for anonymous 24-hour-a-day support at 867-979-3333 or toll free at 1-800-265-3333.

You can also consult Isaksimagit Inuusirmi Kataujjiqatigiit, the Embrace Life Council’s website here for more information and support, or call its toll free line at 1-866-804-2782.