Son of Fred Sasakamoose, former NHL player, prime suspect in fatal Sask. reserve shooting
Elgin (Chucky) Sasakamoose ID'd as Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation shooter
The suspect in a fatal shooting on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation was the son of former NHL hockey player Fred Sasakamoose.
Sources tell CBC News that 59-year-old Elgin (Chucky) Sasakamoose, who died from a gunshot wound, was the suspected shooter in the death of an unidentified 56-year-old man yesterday morning.
Following the shooting, police said they were looking for a man who had been seen in the area wearing camouflage clothing and driving an ATV. RCMP officers located Sasakamoose on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation at approximately 5 p.m. CST, when a gunshot went off. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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Police officers said they did not fire their weapons.
It is not clear who fired the shot that killed Sasakamoose.
Sasakamoose's father was the NHL's first Canadian aboriginal player. Fred Sasakamoose played for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54.
Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation is about 165 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
RCMP called about shots fired
Just after 11 a.m. CST Tuesday, RCMP received several calls from people reporting a man discharging a firearm near the health centre on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation.
The area where the shooting took place was blocked off by police for several hours and residents of the community were urged to stay inside until it was deemed safe to come out.
'A ghost reserve'
A Sasakamoose family friend said people on the First Nation are stunned.
The band office has been closed today, and so has the community radio station.
"It's surreal out here right now," said Gerry Greyeyes. "The only way to describe it is like a ghost reserve right now."
He said locals were surprised to hear that Sasakamoose was the shooting suspect.
"This type of situation is totally not in their nature as a family," he said. "Like, this was absolutely, incredibly unreal."
Clarifications
- A previous version of this story stated Sasakamoose died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. RCMP have not confirmed this.Mar 30, 2016 4:16 PM CT
with files from CBC's Devin Heroux