Police, coroner investigate what began as mental health incident in Baker Lake

Police in Baker Lake say they and the coroner’s office are investigating what started as an RCMP response to a mental health crisis in the hamlet Tuesday.

Police determined that “criminality was not a factor,” RCMP spokesperson Sgt. George Henrie said in an email Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Mayor James Taipana posted a “community safety and information” public notice on Facebook to address what he said were “recent rumours regarding RCMP activity” at a home in the community.

He did not describe what happened but wrote “such situations can cause concern.”

Taipana said Tuesday the RCMP was handling the matter and there was no immediate risk to the public. He encouraged hamlet residents to get their information from official sources and to “avoid spreading unverified information.”

Henrie said police were responding to a person who was experiencing a mental health crisis on Tuesday. He said he could not provide further details because the matter is being investigated by police and the coroner.

Despite saying the coroner’s office was involved in the investigation, Henrie did not explicitly say there had been a death.

Taipana declined to comment on the incident when reached at his office on Wednesday. He was still consulting with the local RCMP detachment, he said, and would not be commenting at this time.

On Wednesday, the hamlet issued a public notice stating a bingo event scheduled for Thursday is postponed to a later date.

“This decision is made out of respect for a recent loss within immediate families in our community. We extend our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time,” the notice said.