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A young girl is in a critical condition after an incident in Inukjuak, Que., which led to a shoot-out with police, according to the community’s mayor.
In a news release Sunday, Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), says preliminary findings from its investigation suggest police received a call around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday about a person endangering other people inside a home.
Officers with the Nunavik Police Service arrived shortly after to an armed person outside the home. BEI said that person and the police exchanged gunfire, and the person was reportedly injured and placed under arrest.
The BEI says another person was reportedly found seriously injured inside the home.
The BEI said police officers provided first aid until first responders arrived, and the two injured people were taken to the health centre. The person who was arrested is in a stable condition, and the person found injured inside the home is in a critical condition.
Inukjuak mayor Bobby Epoo says a six-year-old girl was flown to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, and her father, a man in his 30s, has also received medical care.
Five BEI investigators are on the case, as is the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), which is conducting a parallel criminal investigation into what occurred that morning.
Epoo says those investigators have finished gathering evidence in the community and are now working with ballistics specialists to further analyze the incident.
“I extend my deep support to the family of the young girl and to all community members affected by this distressing event,” he said in a statement to CBC News.
This is the second police-involved shooting in the community this year. In July, Nunavik police fatally shot one person who approached officers with a bladed weapon.
According to data from the BEI, police officers in Nunavik are involved in 73 times more fatal shootings than the provincial average.
