Yearend Coverage: Shooting shatters community of La Loche

“The community is shaken up, though, the community is a fairly strong community and will come together to begin healing and supporting each other,” she said.

Vigils were held across the province while the school stayed closed for a month. Acting mayor Kevin Janvier called for the entire building to be torn down and replaced, though he later stepped back from his comments. While the school was not shuttered, it will receive a $1 million upgrade in the near future.

The incident shone a bright, focused light on the plight of living in La Loche and other similar northern Saskatchewan communities.

With a suicide rate well above the national average, along with rampant drug and addiction problems and few jobs, the community had been a pressure cooker for years.

The shooting may have been caused or contributed to by a newer issue plaguing some Indigenous communities – cyber bullying.

The shooters friends had described him as the black sheep of his family and said he was bullied at school, mostly over his large ears.

With the advent of social media and cellphones, communication has gotten easier for better or worse. While the Internet makes it easier to connect with friends, it also makes it easier for young people to tease and bully each other in a form often unnoticed by adults.

It’s rare for the perpetrator of a school shooting to survive the incident. Most commonly, the tragedies end with the shooter committing suicide or being shot and killed by police.

When the La Loche shooter surrendered without incident, it added a new dimension to the tragedy as the courtroom drama began to play out in the public eye.

In October the 17-year-old, who can’t be named under the Youth Protection Act, entered a guilty plea to two counts of first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. Although the victim’s families’ ordeal will undoubtedly be elongated by the legal process, the guilty plea at least spared them a lengthy trial.

“My life will never be the same,” Jackie Janvier said. Her daughter, 21-year-old teacher’s aide Marie Janvier, was one of the teachers killed. “Losing my beautiful daughter-my whole body went with her the day that happened.”

The Crown will seek to have him sentenced as an adult.

It will now have to be seen how long care and aide goes to La Loche.

Both Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made appearances in the community. Trudeau promised ongoing support for the community, while Wall committed to education initiatives, housing and cultural programs.

In a good first step for the province, a new full-time victim services worker was assigned to the community, bringing their total to two.

La Loche proved to be a major learning point for media. From mispronunciations of the town’s name on air, to simple duties such as confirmation of details, there were many missteps made during the reporting of the crisis.

A detail stating Marie Janvier was the daughter of La Loche mayor Kevin Janvier circulated quickly after news of the incident broke. In our haste, the fact was first reported by paNOW. We recognize the modest prestige of being the first news organization to break a story is never worth sacrificing accuracy and we whole-heartedly apologize for the confusion.

by paNOW

Yearend Coverage: Shooting shatters community of La Loche

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