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It’s not just the community on the Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation mourning after the quadruple murder last week, nearby communities are sharing in their grief.
On Tuesday last week, four people were found dead in a home on the First Nation. This week police released their names: Tracey Hotomani, 34, Sheldon Quewezance, 44, Shauna Fay, 47, and Terry Jack, 51.
There are several communities nearby in that part of Saskatchewan, with Sintaluta among the closest – it’s just 14 km north.
Dennis Tourscher is the mayor of Sintaluta. He said many people in smaller communities know each other and there are many people in Sintaluta grieving.
“We were all very sad and disappointed at the whole situation,” said Tourscher.
He explained there are people from Carry the Kettle in nearby communities and many people knew at least one of the victims or their families.
“I knew one of the victims and I had interacted with her before and she was a good person,” he said.
Tourscher called the murder unfortunate and sent his condolences to the families of the victims and anyone affected.
Nearby Cowesses First Nation Chief Erica Beaudin said last week people in her community were personally affected by the tragedy, and their hearts went out to Carry the Kettle.
With the town so close to the First Nation, Tourscher said he might have expected some kind of official communication from the RCMP – particularly in the initial stages of the investigation. He said much of what people in town have heard has been through word-of-mouth and social media posts.
“It would have been nice to have a little more of a heads-up from the RCMP but it’s understandable that they can’t release some stuff,” he said.
The Mounties explained last week that an urgent alert wasn’t sent out because the killings appeared to be targeted and the police didn’t feel there was a risk to the public.
At the same time the RCMP released the names of the victims this week, it also said the victims had died by shooting. At least two of them have been laid to rest thus far.
Around the same time as the death investigation, one person was arrested in a gun incident on nearby Zagime Anishinabek – no charges have been laid in connection with the deaths.