BEAVER LAKE - A 41-year old man is dead after RCMP responded to a complaint of shots fired at a residence on the Beaver Lake Cree Nation on Nov. 20.
RCMP released an initial statement the following Monday at 6:15 pm, calling the incident a suspicious death.
RCMP spokesperson Corp. Deanna Fontaine later told Lakeland Today that an investigation by the RCMP's Major Crimes Unit is ongoing, and an autopsy on the victim is scheduled for later this week to confirm a cause of death.
As the investigation is ongoing, Fontaine said details of the event continue to be mapped out.
What she could say was that a 911 call from a Beaver Lake residence came in at around 11pm that night. The caller reported multiple shots being fired. When Lac La Biche RCMP arrived at a residence, they located a deceased male. The name of the victim has not been released.
Fontaine did tell Lakeland Today that the victim was from the Lac La Biche area.
Wide reach
RCMP are continuing to investigate and are asking members of the public who may have been in and near the Beaver Lake Cree Nation between the hours of 10pm and midnight on Nov. 20 to check home security, dash cam or other surveillance footage for anything suspicious.
Fontaine said investigators are not specifying particular areas of the community, and are asking anyone with any information to come forward. When asked if police were searching for a vehicle, she said it was not part of initial information coming from the Major Crimes Unit investigation.
While she says the general public is not believed to be at risk following the incident, she also recognizing that a firearm was involved.
"We do believe this is an isolated incident and we are continuing to investigate, however there is believed to be a person at large with a firearm, and that is always a concern," she said.
Anyone with information about the incident can contact the Lac La Biche RCMP detachment at 780-404-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
