Latest news with #LindsayEllis
CBC
04-05-2025
- CBC
Yukon RCMP commanding officer reflects on recent increase in gun violence
Yukon RCMP Chief Supt. Lindsay Ellis says there's been a real jump recently in gun-related incidents and crime across the territory. So far this year, police responded to several reports of gunshots, some of which involved 3D-printed guns. Several youths with firearms were arrested this winter, in unrelated incidents that took place in broad daylight in public spaces. In the past few days alone, an individual walked into a restaurant on Main Street, Whitehorse, brandishing a firearm. On a different day, a shooting took place in the city's Riverdale neighbourhood that sent one person to hospital, while another incident involving a replica firearm forced the evacuation of a building as well as homes and businesses within a two-block radius around downtown Whitehorse. Meanwhile, the federal government gave $4 million last November to help address gun crime and gang violence in the Yukon. So how is the local police handling the rise in gun violence? Ellis spoke to Yukon Morning's Elyn Jones Thursday about why this has become a growing issue and what the RCMP's response to it all is. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length. Yukoners have expressed concerns over what appears to be a rise in gun violence. How real is the issue? Over the last recent months, including over the last week or two, the RCMP have reported on investigations that we've undertaken or reports that we've received ... about firearms being displayed, brandished, or us coming upon firearms through the course of investigations. So it's not just a perception — it's real. We're getting some firearms out of traffic stops. That's highly concerning for officer safety and the public. When I'm seeing that my members every day are interacting with individuals that may have on their person operable or even replica firearms, that's a concern. The overarching concern is the fear that the public feels going anywhere in the Yukon and thinking, you know, "Does this person have a firearm? Is something going to take place in front of me that I have no control over? And I'm an innocent bystander, too." What explains this increase? Some of these incidents are perhaps not related. Some are through different demographics. So it could be that there are adult people who are involved in organized crime or gang-type activity. The territory changed in the last 10 to 15 years, but I think that we're just catching up with the rest of the country. Gun violence has been noted by Stats Canada to have increased over the last 10 years across Canada. There's many different reasons for that. I'd like to think that some of the reason that, in the Yukon, we're reporting on this and that we're responding and that we are coming upon perhaps some of these firearms in our duties, is that we are out there and we're focused on identifying and defusing but also preventing crime. We need to have some hard conversations as a community and as Yukoners about what we feel is acceptable and also what we're willing to do about the root causes. Where are the firearms coming from? There's many sources of illegal firearms in the country. Some are purchased legally through reputable dealers and then made their way into hands that they shouldn't be in. Some guns are smuggled in through other countries and some are ordered ... through the Internet and the dark web in separate parts. Some of these firearms are operable; some of them are replicas. The file that we had in Dawson City at the start of April, that was what we would call a ghost gun. So an untraceable firearm. It's a 3D-print ... so a 3D printer can print that gun and can render it operable. I don't want to opine about why some people would be carrying real or replica firearms. There could be many different reasons ... personal protection, actual wish to commit a crime. But there's no good reason in the Yukon for somebody to be carrying a real or replica firearm. How is the RCMP currently responding to the issue? Our response in those situations is the same. It's a professional, modern application of policing to defuse that public safety threat, and do so in the safest manner possible. Some of the incidents that have occurred in public during daytime hours on Main Street, even last night, are highly concerning with a high risk to public safety. And I can understand why Yukoners are concerned about this uptick. I want to be very clear, though, that the police are well positioned to respond. And we encourage people to, if they see something suspicious, call us. Please give us good details. What more can be done? It comes down to prevention and awareness, and also just conflict resolution. When people are feeling like perhaps it's acceptable to carry these firearms and to escalate, for lack of a better term, their beefs or their conflict with each other, I think that we can do maybe better as a community to try and resolve some of these conflicts.
CBC
02-05-2025
- CBC
2 face weapons charges after incident that forced evacuation of 2 blocks around Whitehorse non-profit
RCMP in Whitehorse say they have arrested two women and recovered a replica firearm after an incident at the Blood Ties Four Directions building Wednesday night. The incident in question forced the evacuation of the building as well as homes and businesses within a two-block radius around it. Chief Supt. Lindsay Ellis, the commanding officer of Yukon M Division, said the arrest happened just after 11 p.m. and the investigation continues. Speaking to CBC Thursday morning, Ellis said police seized a firearm as well. Later in the day, Blood Ties Four Directions executive director Jill Aalhus said police informed them it was in fact a replica firearm that was seized. In a news release later on Thursday, RCMP said that they responded on Wednesday evening after receiving initial reports that a woman had entered the facility with a gun and was pointing it at people inside. Police said an emergency response team, police dog services and a crisis negotiation team then went to the area and tried to communicate with the woman inside, but received no response. Police eventually confirmed there were two people inside the building along with a firearm. Officers managed to enter the building to find two women "who remained uncooperative," the release states. The women were then arrested with help from police dog services and police recovered a replica firearm. The two women, aged 53 and 23, are each charged with pointing a firearm, carrying an imitation firearm for the purposes of committing an offence and uttering threats. Blood Ties Four Directions is a Whitehorse-based non-profit organization that runs a supervised consumption site in the city. In a Facebook post Wednesday night, the organization described the situation as a "serious safety incident". It wrote that no one was injured and the incident "was safely resolved with the support of emergency responders". It also said there has been inaccurate information circulating online about the incident. "In situations like this, it's especially important to rely on accurate information rather than rumours, which can cause unnecessary fear and confusion," the organization wrote. After the incident resolved, it said it was hoping to be able to resume offering services "as quickly as possible."
