Nunavik’s season of booze, dope and bullets

This summer has been marked by an increasing number of drug and booze seizures in Nunavik, as well as incidents involving firearms, which threaten the peace and often the lives of Nunavik’s police officers.

Last Friday evening in Tasijuaq, there was another violent incident against police.

According to the Kativik Regional Police Force, a woman was carrying a gun and was shooting it in the village.

Police, responding to a call about the women, told her to put the firearm down, but she started shooting at them.

One of the bullets lodged in the door where a police officer was sitting and another one missed his right ear.

“There were four or five rounds that went into the police vehicle with a high powered rifle,” said KRPF police chief Brian Jones.

The police retreated, and asked for the area to be cleared. While the woman was reloading the gun, a by-stander managed to grab the gun.

Police arrested Sara Munick, 22. She appeared by telephone in front of a judge on Monday to face charges of reckless use of a firearm. Munick, who is in custody, may face more charges, police say.

Alcohol was involved.

Between dealing with the armed violence and intoxication from drugs and alcohol, police have faced “a very rough summer.”

“This summer has been unbelievable. A recent seizure in Salluit was for $150,000 worth, over 2,000 grams, of marijuana, and over 20 cases of beer and liquor for one individual that came in on one of the ships,” Jones said.

“Then, we had a incident in Salluit last Saturday where someone was shooting around the police station.”

The two Inuit constables who faced down the armed woman in Tasiujaq may now go on stress leave, depleting the forces’ numbers and ability to keep the peace.

“We’re losing a lot of our constables. We’re losing seven of them to the RCMP and the Sûreté du Qué/bec provincial police force,” Jones said.