Coroner takes over Kinngait ‘alert’ incident investigation

It’s not clear what prompted an order for Kinngait residents to shelter in place Wednesday, except that police have determined it’s not a criminal matter and the investigation has been passed to the Nunavut Coroner’s Office.

RCMP advised people in the hamlet of approximately 1,400 people Wednesday morning to avoid the 4000 block due to a “police operation” near the health centre.

The advisory was lifted in the afternoon, with RCMP saying only that it was continuing to investigate. By Thursday morning, the incident appeared to have been passed to a different authority.

“Police have determined that criminality was not a factor to the incident, and this matter will now be investigated by the Nunavut Coroner’s Office,” said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. George Henrie in a follow-up news release.

The coroner’s office is typically called in to investigate unexpected, unexplained or sudden deaths in Nunavut.

When asked if there were any deaths in Kinngait on Wednesday, Henrie declined to comment due to the investigation being in the coroner’s hands.

Henrie also did not say if any other outside police agencies are involved.

“As this is not a criminal investigation, we will not be providing any other information other than what was published this morning,” he said in an email.

A representative from the coroner’s office could not be reached for comment.

At the Kinngait hamlet office, Mayor Jimmy Manning said he didn’t have all the information on what happened Wednesday and declined to provide comment.

“My deep condolences to the family and community for this tragic loss of life,” said David Joanasie, who was recently reacclaimed as MLA for South Baffin.

Reached by phone Friday, Joanasie declined to provide more information, saying a family is dealing with a “loss.”