Cops assaulted in Kuujjuaq brawl

Three Kuujjuaq residents face several charges, including assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, uttering threats, and mischief, after three members of the Kativik Regional Police Force were attacked on Aug. 24.

The incident also resulted in the sprinkler system at the Kuujjuaq police station being set off.

The brawl erupted after KRPF members responded to a domestic dispute. None of the police officers were injured. A KRPF member said this week that although the sprinkler system caused a “big mess,” there was no damage to the building.

Steven Gosselin, 32, of house 127, faces one count of uttering a threat, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of mischief relating to the police station sprinkler system.

Eva Jonas, 31, of house 250-B, faces two counts of assaulting a police officer, and one count of resisting arrest.

Norman Bibeau, 37, of house 250-B, faces two counts of assaulting a police officer, two counts of resisting arrest, and one count of mischief in relation to the police station sprinkler system.

Attacks on members of Nunavik’s fledgling Inuit police force are not uncommon, as booze-fueled violence continues to increase in the region.

In the past two to three years, KRPF members have been attacked and threatened several times by people wielding guns, knives and other weapons.

Unlike police officers elsewhere in Quebec, KRPF officers do not carry sidearms. They are supplied with 12-gauge shotguns stored in their vehicles, for emergency use only.

In the fall of 2003, a gun wielding man chased a KRPF officer around Ivujivik, threatening to kill him. The unarmed policeman escaped by hiding under a building.

The courts released the man back into the community only four days after his arrest, even though he faced 12 charges, some of them for indictable offences.

In January of this year, the Ivujivik man rammed a truck into a police car, then threatened to kill a woman and baby who had climbed into the police vehicle seeking safety. The KRPF member managed to get to his shotgun, then wounded the man in the leg so he could be arrested.

In 2001, a KRPF member based in Umiujaq took a long stress leave after a man sat on his chest, pointed a .22-calibre rifle in his face, and threatened to kill him.