A state of emergency is set to take effect this weekend in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation after the RCMP and the community’s nursing station had a busy night responding to violent incidents, including at least two stabbings.
Chief Shirley Ducharme said the nation’s leadership ordered a lockdown, which has since been lifted, after she received a call from the nurse in charge on Saturday just before 1 a.m.
“We immediately had to do this lockdown and called an emergency meeting,” Ducharme said.
The community, also known as South Indian Lake, is about 1,080 kilometres north of Winnipeg and is home to just over 1,000 people.
The nursing station is located in the First Nation.
RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre told CBC Saturday that officers from the South Indian Lake detachment responded to one stabbing incident just after 1 a.m. A suspect was arrested and will remain in custody, he said.
The victim was medevacked to Thompson, about 760 kilometres north of Winnipeg, with what police called a non-life threatening injury.
In a separate incident, a person suffered a stabbing injury to their hand, Manaigre said. They were treated and released from the nursing station.
“The detachment, along with the nursing station, had a very busy night with a lot of calls of a violent nature,” Manaigre wrote in an email.
It’s not known if the incidents are connected or what the circumstances are behind them.
In response, Ducharme said RCMP, safety officers and security patrolled the area and set up a checkpoint to prevent people living outside the community from getting in.
The lockdown was lifted later Saturday morning, but Ducharme said a state of emergency will be called and a curfew is being put in place to try and prevent more violence.
“I know when we talked to the RCMP, there’s been a lot of violence. It started on Thursday and it’s escalated to a point where now we had to deal with the emergency lockdown,” Ducharme said. “With the state of emergency we call, we can establish our curfew bylaws and put our security people in patrol just to monitor the community.”
“It’s for the safety of our members.”
Ducharme said the community has previously had to call a state of emergency, due issues stemming from mental health issues and addictions.
“We still need to get some resources in our community,” Ducharme said. “That’s the big problem we have. We are trying to heal our community and if we can get some supports here with what’s happening, I think we will get somewhere to reach our people in trying help them through harm reduction and healing.”