LA LOCHE, Sask. – A Sunday service at a Roman Catholic church in La Loche, Sask., heard from an archbishop who told congregants to focus on their community’s generosity. Archbishop Murray Chatlain says it will take time for the village to heal after shootings that left four people dead and seven others wounded on Friday, but the tragedy doesn’t define La Loche.
“When something tragic like this happens, it’s often the only time people hear about a community like La Loche and it’s only in bad news, and the people here are very faithful and good people,” said Chatlain, the archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas who estimated 250 people attended the service.
“There’s many tremendously generous people here, so … the story is much more than this in La Loche.”
Chatlain said he has met with the victims’ families as well as the family of a 17-year-old boy who is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
The youth, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is scheduled to make his first appearance Monday in Meadow Lake provincial court.
FULL COVERAGE: La Loche school shooting
Saskatchewan RCMP say that during an eight-minute period in the La Loche Community school on Friday afternoon, nine people were shot.
Two staff members died.
Two brothers, one 13 and the other 17, were discovered dead in a home not far away.
READ MORE: Public safety minister, Sask. premier head to La Loche after deadly shooting
Premier Brad Wall and MP Ralph Goodale were scheduled to arrive in La Loche on Sunday, but their flight was unable to land because of weather.
Chatlain said the victims’ families need time to work through what has happened and the family of the accused should not face blame.
He met with the accused’s family Saturday night to offer support in this “nightmare experience that they’re going through and trying to offer them the support of the community.”
“We’re not blaming them. … It’s just, this has happened and now how do we bring healing and support and try find ways for our young people to have more hope.”
READ MORE: La Loche school shooting: what we know about the victims
Marie Janvier, 21, died at the school. She had graduated from the school two years earlier and a friend said she was hired as a teacher’s aide last fall.
Adam Wood, 35, had also just started work at the school in September as a teacher. RCMP said he died of his wounds shortly after arriving at the La Loche hospital.
Drayden Fontaine, 13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17, were found dead in the house.
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