Quebec police probe Kuujjuaraapik man’s death after suicide try in cell

Independent investigations by the Sûrété du Québec homicide squad and a Quebec coroner will look into the death of Mike Shields (shown here this past August during a visit to Cape Hope Island), the manager of the Kuujjuaraapik airport, who died in a Montreal hospital Sept. 27 following a Sept. 14 suicide attempt in a jail cell at the Kativik Regional Police Force station in Kuujjuaraapik. (PHOTO HARVESTED FROM BEBO.COM)

Quebec police are investigating the death of Michael Shields, who died in Montreal General Hospital Sept. 27 after hanging himself in a Kativik Regional Police holding cell in Kuujjuaraapik on Sept. 14.

Funeral services for Shields were held Oct. 4 in Kuujjuaraapik.

Because Shields died as a result of a suicide attempt that occurred while he was in custody, Quebec law calls for an investigation by an outside police force, said Marie-Josée Ouellet, a spokesperson for the SQ in Rouyn-Noranda.

Investigators from the SQ’s homicide squad visited Kuujjuaraapik after Shields died.

They will make a report and may possibly recommend that charges be laid against some individuals, Ouellet said.

The office of the Quebec coroner will also produce a report, following the results of the SQ investigation and information received from an autopsy performed on Shields.

The coroner, Catherine Rudel-Tessier, will then look at the causes and circumstances around Shields’ death and make recommendations on how to avoid a similar incident in the future, said Nicole Thibault, a spokesperson for the Bureau du Coroner in Quebec City.

Rudel-Tessier may decide to visit Kuujjuaraapik and conduct interviews, Thibault said.

The coroner’s report could take up a year to be completed, she said.

Some in Kuujjuaraapik point to drugs and alcohol in the community as a factor in Shields’ death and a large number of vehicle collisions, causing serious injuries.

Kevin Hatt, a longtime friend of Shields, gave the eulogy at Shields’ Oct. 4 funeral, recalling Shield’s “joie de vivre,” and noting, that if drugs and alcohol weren’t abused, Shields would likely still be alive.

Shields’ large extended family, including his father, Bill Shields of Churchill, along with Cree and Inuit from the twin communities of Kuujjuaraapik and Whapmagoostui, packed St. Edmund’s Anglican Church for the Oct. 4 funeral.

Shields’ immediate family includes his longtime common-law partner Marlene Blacksmith, and seven children, Minnie Tookalook, Bobby Shields, Sandra Shields, Nicole Tukkiapik-Shields, Melanie Shields, Treydin Blacksmith-Shields and Terrie-Lyne Blacksmith.

“We’ve lost a friend, and when one of us is hurt, we all hurt, we all feel the pain,” Rev. Tom Martin told those at the funeral,

Cree elders, who also attended the service, remembered Shields as a young child, when his family, the Weetaltuks, lived on Cape Hope Island in James Bay, the most southerly group of Inuit until their relocation in 1960.