A man is dead after shots were fired inside a home on Inuvik’s Bompas Street early on Monday, RCMP say.
In a news release, police said they were called to a report of shots fired just before 7am.
A man was taken to Inuvik’s hospital where he was pronounced dead, RCMP stated. His name and age were not given.
“It is believed that the incident is isolated. No suspects have been arrested at this time,” Monday’s statement added.
“The investigation has been transferred to the Northwest Territories Major Crimes Unit.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the Inuvik detachment at 867-777-1111 or leave a tip via Crime Stoppers.
After the shooting, Inuvik’s hospital entered a lockdown that remained in place until 5pm, when it was lifted. The incident was followed by rumours of an active shooter in the town, though RCMP later said police had not issued any shelter-in-place or lockdown order.
The town’s mayor, Peter Clarkson, told Cabin Radio at 9:20am that RCMP had advised him no active shooter warning had been issued.
The health authority said residents should only head to the hospital in a medical emergency.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“We did not at any time issue a lockdown,” an RCMP spokesperson said.
In a statement at 10am on Monday, the Town of Inuvik confirmed there had been “an incident in the community this morning” but stressed there was no shelter-in-place or lockdown.
‘Increased risk’
Asked why the hospital remained locked down into Monday afternoon, the NWT’s health authority did not comment on the details of the incident but set out its general approach.
A decision to lock down a hospital “is informed by public safety information but there may be occasions when it is enacted at a lower threshold than other facilities,” the health authority stated.
“Hospitals with emergency departments cannot ever fully close due to the need to be available to provide life-sustaining care to the public, and are often the recipients of victims of violence or those who may have been injured during such incidents, which can put the safety of staff and other patients at increased risk.
“For these reasons, NTHSSA works to ascertain risk specific to our unique operating environment, informed by information from RCMP, as well as factors specific to the incident at hand.”
The health authority said it would rebook patients with affected appointments “as quickly as possible.”
