A community in mourning: Indian Head residents honour Const. Shelby Patton

Active in the community, always smiling, quiet, courteous and a good friend.

Those are just some of the many ways people in Indian Head described RCMP Const. Shelby Patton.

According to police, Patton was responding to a call involving a stolen truck with Manitoba plates in the community of Wolseley around 8 a.m. on Saturday when he tried to stop the truck. He was killed after he left his vehicle and the driver struck him — the two suspects, a man and woman, were found and arrested in a field northeast of Francis hours later.

To say it’s been a painful few days for residents of Indian Head — a small town roughly one hour east of Regina where Patton worked — would be an understatement.

A collection of flowers, cards and teddies decorated the outside of the RCMP detachment in Indian Head in honour of Const. Shelby Patton. (Logan Stein/980 CJME)

“It cuts deep into our community. Our police officers live here, they are our neighbours, their children go to our schools, we curl together, they’re part of our family too,” said Robin Jensen, who lives there. “There (are) no words, really.

“It’s horrible, absolutely horrible.”

A common theme that was used to describe Patton was how he embraced the community of Indian Head from the moment he got there.

“He was so involved in the community, a great neighbour, great, great colleague, just a solid person. We’ve had a history of having wonderful RCMP members here that jump right in and embrace rural community life. He was no exception,” one man said.

“There’s going to be a lot of reflection as to how much the detachment and the members mean to us in this community and I think something like this brings not just our community or province together, but our country together in respecting the job that they do.

“The whole town is just devastated.”

When local resident Joanne Godfrey found out about Patton’s death, she described the feeling as the same that would be had if she found out her own son was killed.

“He’s just a kid doing his job. It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s too sad for words. He meant a lot to this community for those who knew him.

“I just hope his wife gets through it OK.”

Some paramedics in #IndianHead lay down some flowers for Constable Patton. #Saskatchewan #Sask @CJMENews pic.twitter.com/iIX6bT1nGr

— Logan Stein (@L0ganStein) June 13, 2021

Jeff Slinn works with the Indian Head EMS. He described Patton as a friend who was exceptional at his job.

“We work very close with police on a day-to-day basis. I felt the need to come with my kids to give our respects to Shelby, the RCMP and his family,” Slinn said. “He served well while he was here and he was a friend to many.

“He truly represented his uniform well. He was a good man.”

Indian Head’s RCMP Detachment has lowered its flag to half-mast following the death of an RCMP member on Saturday. Pictured Sunday, June 13, 2021. (Logan Stein/980 CJME)

Flags at every RCMP detachment across Saskatchewan will remain at half-mast until sunset on the day of Patton’s funeral. The details of the service will be released in the next few days, according to RCMP.

Patton was 26 years old. He spent his entire career of more than six years in Indian Head, other than a brief time on assignment at Parliament Hill before officially beginning service in Saskatchewan.