Family of sisters killed in Langside Street shooting has seen 'a lot of death,' chief says
Beardy family forced to leave their Lake St. Martin home during 2011 flood
The mother of the two sisters killed in a mass shooting in Winnipeg has now lost four daughters, and the family has also struggled after they were displaced by flooding, the chief of their home First Nation says.
Stephanie and Crystal Beardy were among four people killed during a shooting at a rooming house on Langside Street on Sunday.
The family, from Lake St. Martin First Nation, was forced to leave their home community when flooding devastated the community in 2011, Chief Christopher Traverse told CBC News.
"Not all of the community members were able to move back. We were forced to stay here in the city," Traverse said.
"Crystal and Stephanie didn't have a place to come home to, so they're here, stuck in the city, forced to stay in the city."
Crystal, 34, lived in Winnipeg, while Stephanie, 33, had recently moved back to the reserve to live with her mother, Traverse said.
The entire community of Lake St. Martin, nearly 3,000 people, had to evacuate their homes during the flooding. About 300 families, around 1,000 people, still don't have homes to return to, Traverse said.
The chief said he knows the Beardy family personally. The mother of the two women, Beverley Beardy, works in the band office and asked Traverse to be their spokesperson, he said.
"That family, in particular, they have a lot of death in their family," he said. "This is not her first daughter that passed away, this is her fourth daughter."
He saw Stephanie as recently as Friday, when she left Lake St. Martin for the city.
"She was coming to Winnipeg to visit for the weekend … half her family's in Winnipeg," he said.
Crystal was the mother of two boys, while Stephanie had two girls.
Traverse says the band council is supporting the family, and he met with members of the family in Winnipeg on Monday.
"I think the family's going to take care of [the children]," he said.
"I don't want nothing to happen to the children, to go to care or something like that. That's something I'll stick up for, and as the community leader, I'll protect them from that happening."
Traverse says the killing of two of his community members shows the need for increased government help to rebuild after the flood.
Earlier this year, the remains of another member of the community, Linda Mary Beardy, were found in the Brady landfill in Winnipeg. Police say her death was accidental.
"Now this time it's two Aboriginal women," Traverse said. "They have to open their ears and listen to what my community needs."
Two men — Melelek Leseri Lesikel, 29, and Dylan Maxwell Lavallee, 41 — also died in the mass shooting on Sunday. A fifth person, a 55-year-old man, remains in hospital.
During a news conference on Monday, Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth said there are many unanswered questions about the shooting, and he appealed to members of the public to come forward with information.
Police have not made any arrests in connection with the shooting.
"We will focus on trying to identify this person," Smyth said. "Obviously they've gone to ground right now, but we'll try to take them into custody as soon as we can."
Investigators do not know why the victims were together in the suite at the rooming house. The property owner told CBC News none of them were tenants.
Police also have not confirmed whether a single person shot all of the victims or whether there were multiple shooters.
Traverse said plans for a memorial for the Beardy sisters are pending, because their bodies have not been released from police custody.
Right now, the chief and council are trying to support the family.
"It's very important for us as a community … to be there for our members," he said.
"It's hard to have the support here in the city for the individual when all your family is in Lake St. Martin and we're all over the place."
With files from Karen Pauls and Cameron MacLean