TORONTO — Police on Saturday charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in a remote aboriginal community in western Canada, officials said.

Police said the male suspect can’t be named under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Grant St. Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, two fatally – a teacher and a teacher’s aide. He said seven people wounded in Friday’s shooting at the school are hospitalized.

Kevin Janvier, acting mayor of La Loche, Saskatchewan, lost his only child, a teacher’s aide, in Friday’s shootings at La Loche Community School. The Associated Press

The teacher’s aide who was fatally shot, Marie Janvier, 21, was the daughter of Kevin Janvier, who is acting mayor of La Loche, in Saskatchewan Province. Janvier said his daughter was an only child. “I’m just so sad,” he said.

Police said two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot dead in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr said when officers arrived at the school they saw the front door had been shot open. They entered the school, spotted the suspect and gave chase before apprehending him. He is due in court next week.

Police said they were not aware of a motive and declined to say what type of gun was used.

“This is a significant event for Canada,” St. Germaine said.

Related Stories