Man, 46, charged with killing RCMP officer in Nunavut
CBC News | Posted: March 7, 2001 7:02 PM | Last Updated: March 7, 2001
A 46-year-old man from the remote northern community of Cape Dorset has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an RCMP officer.
Const. Jurgen Seewald was fatally shot on Monday during a scuffle with a suspect, after responding to a domestic dispute.
Salomonie Jaw was formally arraigned by telephone after bad weather prevented him from being taken from Cape Dorset to Iqaluit to appear in court. He's expected to be transported out this evening for a Thursday court appearance.
Jaw is the brother of Cape Dorset mayor Mathew Saveakjuk Jaw.
In an interview with CBC Newsworld, the mayor said he was shocked to hear that his brother had been charged.
"The whole family is worried about what is happening to my brother," Saveakjuk said.
Seewald, a 26-year veteran of the force, had been stationed since the fall in Cape Dorset an isolated community near Baffin Island.
But Seewald served 22 of his 26 years with the force in Nova Scotia. Across the province Tuesday, flags were at half-mast at all RCMP detachments.
Friends remember 'gentle giant'
Friends paid tribute to a man they called Ziggy, recalling his fondness for practical jokes.
Const. Rick Head, who knew Seewald in Halifax, described him as a "gentle giant" a big man with a big red moustache who never raised his voice.
In 1993, Seewald was honoured for not using lethal force in the arrest of a distraught and armed individual in Nova Scotia town of Antigonish.
RCMP Sgt. Dave Grundy in Yellowknife went to high school with Seewald. He says his friend didn't have a mean bone in his body.
Seewald was the father of a 20-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son. He had been married for 25 years. His wife and children stayed in Nova Scotia because of work.
Seewald will be buried with full honours at a regimental funeral this weekend in Antigonish, N.S.
A memorial service for Seewald will also be held in Iqaluit on Thursday.
Meanwhile, mental health specialists are flying to Cape Dorset to help the tight-knit community of 1,200 people deal with the tragedy.
John Vander Veld says he will work with teachers and nurses at the community's school and health unit to help people deal with the depression and grief that follow a violent crime.
| QUICK FACTS The Officer Down Memorial Page Web site lists 663 Canadian law enforcement officers as having died in the line of duty. It says gunfire is the most common cause of death for officers killed in the line of duty in Canada. The last officer shot to death while on duty was 49-year-old Pierre Rondeau, a federal Department of Corrections guard in Montreal. In September 1997, Rondeau was driving a bus to pick up prisoners scheduled for hearings at a courthouse in Montreal when it was riddled with bullets apparently shot by a Quebec biker gang. Const. Jurgen Seewald is the first to be killed in the line of duty in 2001. Eight officers died in 2000. In the U.S., 27 law enforcement officers have died on duty so far in 2001. |