In a matter of 29 hours in the first days of February, the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes was called to investigate three separate homicides.
The three incidents occurred between the afternoon of Feb. 1 and the evening of Feb. 2 in the communities of Loon Lake, Deschambault Lake and North Battleford, the RCMP said in a release.
“Homicide clusters like the one that we saw last week are not an abnormality in Saskatchewan,” said Supt. Joshua Graham, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes.
“In 2023, there were five separate occasions where the Major Crimes teams deployed to two to three homicides that occurred in less than 48 hours. In the first weeks of 2024, this is something we have already seen happen. Including the three homicides that our teams investigated in the past week, an additional two homicides have occurred since January 18, 2024, totaling five homicide investigations since the new year began.”
Officers said when homicides occur in a cluster, there is extensive pressure on the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes teams and the Major Crime Branch as a whole.
On Feb. 1, Loon Lake RCMP received a report of an injured person at a local residence on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in northern Saskatchewan. Police responded and located the injured man, who was later pronounced dead. The death of the 32-year-old man from the Island Lake First Nation (also known as Ministikwan) was deemed a homicide. No arrests have been made and police continue to investigate.
On Feb. 2, a fatal shooting in North Battleford was also deemed a homicide. Police said that 32-year-old Jordan Wright of North Battleford was found at a local residence and was later pronounced dead by EMS. No arrests have been made and police continue to investigate.
Also on Feb. 2, Deschambault RCMP received a report of a serious assault at a local residence. The injured man was transported to a local clinic where police said he was pronounced dead.
“He has been identified as 21-year-old Jonathan Custer from Deschambault Lake,” police said in a release. Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes are investigating and a 22-year-old local man has been charged with second-degree murder.
In the last week, Saskatchewan Major Crimes also provided support, assisted, or deployed to four other serious incident investigations, a release said. Since 2015, Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes, along with other Saskatchewan RCMP resources, have laid charges in 84 per cent of homicides cases.
Officers are asking if anyone has any information that may help Major Crimes solve a homicide, report it to your local police.
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