Photo by Vince Fedoroff
SHOOTING HAS GRIM OUTCOME – RCMP Insp. Keith MacKinnon speaks with the media Thursday afternoon outside the police detachment in Whitehorse. Staff-Sgt. Jane Boissonneault is behind him.
Photo by Photo Submitted
A camera near the murder scene captured this red Dodge Ram pickup truck, which remains a vehicle of interest to police. Photo Courtesy RCMP
Investigation starts into Yukon’s seventh homicide
A 25-year-old British Columbia man died Thursday
A 25-year-old British Columbia man died Thursday following a shooting Wednesday evening at Wann Road and the Alaska Highway in Porter Creek.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, RCMP Insp. Keith MacKinnon confirmed the death of the man, whose name police did not release.
MacKinnon spoke of the ongoing homicide investigation. He asked for the public’s help in finding a red Dodge Ram pickup truck that was seen leaving the area of the shooting.
“We have all available resources on this,” he said, noting officers have come in from other detachments to assist.
This morning, police said a vehicle has been towed from the downtown area matching the description of the one they’re looking for.
It was also noted, though, that there are a number of red Dodge trucks around the city, and their investigation is continuing.
RCMP are still asking for the public’s help in finding vehicles of interest in the investigation.
Multiple shots were reported in the area at around 6:40 p.m. Wednesday. MacKinnon said two vehicles were involved.
The victim of the shooting had a passenger in the vehicle he was driving. The passenger was not injured, MacKinnon said.
Traffic was rerouted away from the scene all Wedneday night and well into Thursday, with passing motorists detoured onto Centennial Street and MacDonald Road as officers worked on their investigation.
MacKinnon confirmed “there was a firearm recovered at the scene,” but would not say what type of firearm it is.
He also wouldn’t say if it’s known what direction the shots were fired in.
The Major Crimes Unit has taken over the homicide investigation.
This marks the seventh homicide for the territory in 2017, and the sixth that has occurred in Whitehorse.
MacKinnon acknowledged the community concern, noting that this “.... compounded with other violent crimes that have recently occurred in the city, creates some fear and unease in the community.”
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Comments (30)
Up 1 Down 0
Groucho d'North on Sep 28, 2017 at 7:50 pm
I feel for the Mounties and I expect they must feel very frustrated when the courts fumble the ball and fail to adequately prosecute some of the bad boys & girls who flow through our court system. The rules and constraints the Force are required to work under must be equally frustrating when they know how things really are with a case, but are not permitted to deal with them in a manner that would result in a conviction in a legitimate court of law. More and more I see our Legal system as just another economic sector in our modern world, and only the lawyers and court staff benefit from this game of catch me if you can. It's a shame really - all that misplaced energy and effort for nothing.
Up 1 Down 0
jean on Sep 28, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Seven druggies dead, one allegedly innocent victim injured.
Be fearful if you want to. Go looking for trouble and it will find you.
"He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas" -- Benjamin Franklin
Up 7 Down 1
mark on Sep 28, 2017 at 3:35 pm
No Job, lots on welfare and a fair share using drugs. Whitehorse is a small city, people talk, drug dealers are Duuuuumb as f
Up 6 Down 1
Allan Foster on Sep 28, 2017 at 2:27 pm
Jean - OH ?
You think all drug dealers are Olympic marksmen ?
Innocent bystander shot in WH last year .
Details here
http://sharpmagazine.com/2016/06/14/the-outsiders-how-an-upstart-gang-brought-drugs-violence-and-organized-crime-to-the-yukon/
Up 3 Down 0
Josey Wales on Sep 28, 2017 at 1:06 pm
Hey jean....what collateral damage you so foolishly ask?
How about the community devolving into a compost via nefarious scumbags? Or until it affects “jean” directly seems to read as no concern from ewe?
Carry on being foolish ....as it is your right.
Up 2 Down 3
jean on Sep 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm
@Ginger J, seven dead druggies so far shows you are wrong.
What "collateral damage" are you referring to?
Up 12 Down 1
Ginger Johnson on Sep 27, 2017 at 11:11 am
Jean - because druggies are lousy shots !
Hope that nobody you know is "collateral damage" at the next gun fight.
Up 5 Down 11
jc on Sep 25, 2017 at 9:21 pm
This is the second story about this incident. And probably will be the last.
Up 15 Down 27
jean on Sep 25, 2017 at 8:21 pm
Unless you're a member of a very specific socioeconomic minority involved in the drug trade, then this will have absolutely no effect on you whatsoever.
Druggies shooting druggies - why is this a problem?
Up 33 Down 10
Might be looking at the wrong foot on Sep 25, 2017 at 2:48 pm
Just wondering,
Which segment of the population has a ton of free time, access to resources, and has money to burn?
For all the condemnation of drugs; you might want to consider the people purchasing. The drug trade inWhitehorse isn't funded by highschool kids buying an 1/8th of weed.
Alberta dealt with this same problem, high wages, money to burn, and nothing to do.
Up 27 Down 16
anonymous on Sep 25, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Why even say you are investigating? Little good it does when you haven't solved anything. Sick of this crap.
Up 33 Down 6
Well no... on Sep 25, 2017 at 2:24 pm
A large part of this problem is that authority cooperate with and create drug dealers in the communities + Whitehorse. Say for example we take this case:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/drug-dealer-turned-police-agent-testifies-at-whitehorse-trial-1.3186425
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mcmillan-monolith-rcmp-cocaine-acquittal-yukon-drugs-trial-1.3228055
The RCMP handed out 100's of thousands of dollars to this individual. And he was acquitted of all involvement + paid.
RCMP in Whitehorse are part and parcel of the drug problem. They actively follow and engage with the drug dealers (including watching them commit crimes + photographing them) then taking the time to associate them to higher levels. They perpetuate the cycle. There has not been one, ONE, drug dealer that has been shot, killed, targeted, in Whitehorse that was not known to the RCMP. They don't want to pursue the petty stuff, it grows into big stuff, and after that it's beyond their control.
The best way to help this situation is to avoid it. Whitehorse will continue to see an increase as long as RCMP provide a safe environment for drugs. The drug dealers for the RCMP recruit from all over western Canada. And as we recently learned; the problem is throughout the population. Everyone pictures the drug dealer as this shady teenager - 30 year old walking on the street. . . nope; the modern drug dealer has a job, travels, and is well connected.
Up 49 Down 7
Thomas Brewer on Sep 25, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Time to expand the Major Crimes Unit with a dedicated gang/drug subdivision... if this isn't nipped now, it's going to be impossible to eradicate in the future.
Up 39 Down 9
June Jackson on Sep 25, 2017 at 12:10 pm
To my knowledge there has only been 1 drive by shooting, a young girl was shot in front of Yukon Inn..I heard later the shooter was aiming at someone else... so, did everyone say, she must have been a druggie? I do care if drug dealers are shooting drug dealers because they are bad shots.. one of my daughters walking along takes a bullet in their war?
I totally agree with most posters here.. but I will also add, that where there is a seller..there are buyers.. if the people who live here want cocaine and heroin, and fentynal, there will be someone to sell it to them.. and total support from the Government to do so.. you keep buying that crap and we'll give you free Naloxone kits so you can keep right on doing the drugs..and keep right on paying the dealers, and government will keep upping your welfare.. and food bank will keep giving you food.. We're not talking some pot here, we're talking guns and death.. A young man was buried here this last week.. 35 years old.. he made a conscious decision to do drugs and it killed him.. there are consequences long after he is gone.. a mother whose broken heart will never heal, family and friends that loved him, cry for him..would do anything to have him back.. well.. quit buying that shit and dealers will move on..they are not here for their good looks, they are here for the money and apparently there is plenty of it.. Why do people make that decision to do drugs, knowing that its Russian roulette?
I do know one thing.. once you're dead, you don't get a do over..
Up 32 Down 7
BB on Sep 25, 2017 at 11:52 am
Being that the person who died was 25, from BC, and they are not releasing his name, I'd say it's a given that this was not some innocent tourist or visiting family member who was killed.
Come on, out with it. Who was killed? You won't even mention a name, which is in itself very telling. Must be some reason for protecting that information. With an innocent bystander, the name would be out there.
On the other hand, if somehow this is helping the investigation and it is not putting citizens at risk then do as you see fit.
I just think a lot of us up here are in the dark about what is really going on. Drugs, gangs, serious criminals moving into our town and territory in a big way. I am pretty angry about that and would like the RCMP to work more with the public to stop this BS. I hear from people working at the airport that they know exactly who the gang members are who come up here to deliver drugs or have meetings, because they show up at the last minute with a fist full of cash to buy a plane ticket, and they look like gang members. They don't even try to hide it.
Let's work together and make these people extremely unwelcome.
Up 25 Down 2
Tom Stevens on Sep 25, 2017 at 7:38 am
And why does any of this surprise anyone. For years the use of drugs has been downplayed, schools have been rife with traffickers. Drug and Alcohol Services is a nice place to retire while employed and all of this is an invite to the really bad boys to come in a grab a chunk of the revenue. The RCMP don't seem to have a handle on solving these crimes and the young lads of today have no problem showing the world they are not scared to shoot people to enforce their territory. This is how the game is played now, welcome to the party.
Up 46 Down 5
Miles Ocean on Sep 24, 2017 at 11:44 am
There is too much of a lot of things in this town. Drugs and alcohol and addiction issues. Poverty for too many people. Too many people with horrible driving habits. Too much money from many high paying jobs and many toys and entitlement.
Too many imports with a sense they can run this town like Surrey.
We need more police on foot and people willing to stand up and say enough is enough.
Up 38 Down 23
Not worried on Sep 24, 2017 at 9:55 am
As long as it's drug dealers killing drug dealers I'm not that worried. All of the recent killing have been just that.
Up 45 Down 0
FormerYukoner on Sep 24, 2017 at 7:25 am
Sounds like gang activity in some but not all instances up there. A drive by shooting? Maybe I'm wrong but my small hometown in B.C. (approximately 10,000 people), has basically been taken over by gangs and this is too familiar. What started out with petty crimes has progressed to violent, deadly situations like this on a regular basis. We thought these were groups of stupid youth acting tough but they grew into major drug dealers and murderers trying to take over another "territory" and using their local area code as a gang name.
Rival gang members are torturing and murdering others and it's affecting innocent family members as well as the whole community. Some are afraid to walk in their own neighborhood (including my 15 year old nephew not wanting to walk to and from school)... I never ever thought my hometown would have a problem like this; it's unthinkable being so small but times have changed. And, unfortunately I think times have changed for Whitehorse. It doesn't sound the same, sadly. There's probably a lot of that magic and mystery of the Yukon which appeals to many but it has to be protected!
Don't let gangs move in - they destroy a community. Organize groups to nip this in the bud now, resources in the community should be working together to keep Whitehorse safe and sharing more with the public. Money and a need for power fuel a dangerous lifestyle and breeds violence so it only gets worse... I've seen it and though there doesn't seem to be much hope for my hometown, there's hope for Whitehorse if the RCMP call in the gang unit. I just hope they get it under control soon.
Up 48 Down 8
Just Say'in on Sep 23, 2017 at 5:43 pm
It isn't the Police that are causing the problem it is the Courts and the "Legal System" you can not get a charge to stick. If the investigation is not done just right (according to the system) then they walk. Now, with the help of Truedope if it hasn't gone to court in a certain time frame, then they walk, Scott Free.
Up 46 Down 32
moose101 on Sep 23, 2017 at 7:38 am
Typical releases no information about the shooting, peoples names ,nothing they think might compromise the investigation. Well think again and look at your track record in solving murders here in the Yukon. A little public assistance can go a long way. Get your egotistic head out of the sand boys your not the sharpest knives in the block.
Up 58 Down 3
jack on Sep 23, 2017 at 12:33 am
How about starting an investigation into armed drug gangs fighting a turf war on our streets?
Up 43 Down 4
Yukon Watchdog on Sep 22, 2017 at 11:57 pm
Scary. What is the Yukon turning into?
Up 43 Down 8
Josey Wales on Sep 22, 2017 at 9:36 pm
Gee...yet another! I love the yukon twist geographically speaking, tends to dilute the concentration of nefarious scumbags...
It is the compost of Whitehorse with a few sister communities chronically represented where the rot is worst.
Personally I feel we are being engineered to tolerate crime in general, and yes even many homicides. I do not dump this on M, this increase in violence. The courts often let animals outta their cages waaaay too soon.
I have more shame for my community than I do fear or unease.
Many folks here are quite complicit in this rapid decomposition of a once nice town. Willful ignorance is a common theme up here, how else do the nefarious scumbags perform their craft so often and so well?
R.I.P Whitehorse, I miss you dearly.
Up 37 Down 29
jc on Sep 22, 2017 at 9:28 pm
So, the police want the public's help but won't give us any information. How typical. It's no wonder that so many homicides and other crimes aren't solved. If they don't want to cooperate with the public, then don't ask for help.
Up 35 Down 8
DRUM on Sep 22, 2017 at 9:24 pm
You bet it causes concern in the community - think about the murders in the last year and how many have been solved with people charged and in Jail!!!!!!!! Any?
Up 30 Down 3
Miles Ocean on Sep 22, 2017 at 7:21 pm
Guns, and shooting and young people- was it drugs?
Who is buying all these drugs and why is it so deadly?
Up 44 Down 5
Elizabeth on Sep 22, 2017 at 4:10 pm
Praying for the families involved...as well as the Officers who are investigating. So little can be done if no one comes forward. I hope they find the person responsible.
Up 54 Down 6
Tina on Sep 22, 2017 at 4:06 pm
I think it's tragic what is happening in our small town. It's time that people (general public) speak up and provide information so the RCMP are able to do their job. It is also time for the RCMP to come down harder on these things as I'm sure they have knowledge on the 'undesirables' in town. The amount of violent crime and crime in general here is out of control and ridiculously high.
I realize 'evidence' and 'clues/information' is needed to solve these crimes, but still, why are so many unsolved???
Up 38 Down 11
Hughy on Sep 22, 2017 at 3:56 pm
Our town is getting more scary to live in each day. I'm scared to drive around already. So much murdering is happening and they get away with it.