Igloolik man faces 4 attempted murder charges in RCMP shooting

An Igloolik, Nunavut, man is facing five charges in relation to a shooting incident in the community over the weekend.

Donovan Iyerak has been charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of reckless discharge of a firearm.

RCMP say Igloolik officers responded to a call at about 9 a.m. Saturday about a man armed with a rifle. When they arrived, their vehicles were shot at by a man who then fled the area.
 
Later, shots were fired at the RCMP detachment and other buildings in the community.

One officer was shot and received a non-life-threatening wound. RCMP say he was medevaced to Iqaluit where he received medical treatment and then on to Ottawa where he was treated further and is recovering.

The RCMP emergency response team was sent from Iqaluit to detain the shooter. A man gave himself over to police around 2 p.m. and was taken into custody. 

Igloolik's assistant senior administrative officer, Celestino Uyarak, says the community is relieved the incident is over but is concerned about why it happened.

"These are the questions that are in my mind, and I'm sure that the community probably wants to know the same. Mayors, councillors, this is probably everyone's concern: what triggered this?" said Uyarak.

He says while the incident was still happening, members of the community spoke with the shooter to try and calm him down. 

Uyarak says RCMP investigators are now working from the hamlet office because the detachment was damaged from the shooting. He says RCMP are also borrowing hamlet trucks because two of their trucks were also damaged.

Iyerak is scheduled to appear in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, on Tuesday.