Category: Breaking News

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Alberta Breaking News

Violent Fight at Senior Centre in Northern Alberta Breaks Out, 2 RCMP Officers Injured

The Cold Lake Seniors Centre was the location of a violent fight Sunday, a fight that left two officers injured and the arrested individual also requiring medical attention. The incident started when a man showed up at the senior centre uninvited and crashed a party at the facility. The RCMP were alerted at approximately 12:45 p.m. on Sunday when attendees to the jamboree held at the senior centre reported a disturbance being caused by a strange man. What was thought to be an uneventful call quickly turned into something far worse as a violent struggle between the man and the RCMP occurred. The man damaged facility walls and spilled blood all over, even choking one of the responding officers who had arrived on the scene before being subdued and apprehended.

According to Cold Lake RCMP detachment commander Staff Sgt. Jeremie Landry the fight at the senior centre was anything but routine. Landry explained that drugs are suspected to be a factor in the incident. Landry said “His strength was superhuman. The officer [who was choked] is doing well. Obviously that would be a traumatic event for anyone, but the officer is doing well and has remained on duty. Prior to departing, RCMP members along with Cold Lake City Peace Officers cleaned up, there was a significant amount of blood throughout the bottom floor. You never know when that one call you are going to, which seems innocent at the start, could end up in an extremely violent encounter just as this one did.” Cold Lake resident 41 year old Darcy David Macdonald is now facing 2 counts of assaulting a peace officer, 2 counts of resisting arrest, and a count of overcoming resistance by choking to commit an indictable offence.

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Breaking News Ft Mac

Potential Abduction Last Week A False Alarm According to RCMP

On Saturday the Wood Buffalo RCMP reported that a potential abduction on Thursday was a false alarm. On Thursday witnesses reported that a teenage girl may have been abducted in Timberlea shortly after 8 am because an older male picked up a teenage girl and carried her to a newer white SUV. At the time the RCMP investigated it as a potential abduction, and Wood Buffalo RCMP Cpl. Jesse Jones told the media “We’re not entirely sure if it was an abduction, or if it was maybe someone, a father, seeing his daughter walking to school and then picking her up to drive her off. Basically right now we sent out the media release just to garner the public’s assistance in maybe helping us determine if this was indeed an abduction. It’s snowy out, it’s wet out, it could just be someone carrying their child to the car or it could be someone forcefully taking this person.”

By Saturday the RCMP investigators determined that the potential abduction was a false alarm. An individual came forward to the police and allowed the police to determine that the girl was safe and was not abducted. Wood Buffalo RCMP Cpl. Wanita Patey explained “Our serious crimes unit, they did go and confirm the safety and well being of the girl involved. When information of that nature comes in, and there’s signs of struggle or anything deemed to be suspicious, then we have to do the full investigation and treat it as a possible abduction until the investigation is complete.”

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Breaking News Canada

School Shooting Incident in La Loche Friday Leaves 4 Dead, 17 Year Old Charged with 1st Degree Murder

A school shooting in La Loche Friday has left an entire community devastated, four people dead, and a 17 year old charged with several counts of 1st degree murder. The shooting victims who did not survive were brothers 13 year old Drayden Fontaine and 17 year old Dayne Fontaine, 35 year old teacher Adam Wood, and 21 year old teacher’s aide Marie Janvier. Seven other people were wounded during the school shooting and required medical treatment. The 17 year old boy suspected of the crimes has been arrested, and he is charged with 4 counts of 1st degree murder as well as 7 counts of attempted murder and a charge for unauthorized possession of a firearm. The investigation is still going on and a motive for the violent acts has not been provided yet.

Acting mayor for La Loche, Kevin Janvier, gave a press conference about the school shooting and related residential murders. Janvier told the press that “Every individual in La Loche has been wounded by this event. These emotional and mental wounds… will take years to heal. The most sorrowing and disastrous event has happened here, in the place where people should have felt safest, in our schools.” The report from the RCMP shows that a 17 year old boy entered the school with a gun on Friday afternoon and just started shooting people. The Fontaine brothers were found shot to death in a La Loche residence after police responded to the school shooting. 15 year old Jackson Janvier, a student who was at the school at the time, told reporters “Right when he walked in he took that shot, no second thoughts — he just shot him. Then I started running. I heard like five more shots before I got out of the school.”

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Breaking News Ft Mac

Oilsands Explosion at Nexen Long Lake Facility Kills One Worker, Seriously Injures Another

An oilsands explosion at the Nexen Long Lake facility last Friday caused the death of one worker, and another worker suffered burns that were so severe that the employee required hospitalization. The explosion occurred about 3:20 pm Friday afternoon while two maintenance workers were inside a gas compression building refitting compressor valves. The worker who was injured is listed as being in critical condition and the employee is being treated at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton burn unit. Fang Zhi, the CEO for Nexen, held a news conference Saturday and told reporters “Yesterday marks one of the darkest days in Nexen history, Standing here today to share this kind of information is the worst thing a CEO ever has to do. But no matter how badly we feel it pales in comparison to the pain that two of our employees’ families are experiencing.”

After the oilsands explosion at the Nexen Long Lake facility Nexen’s Canadian operations senior vice president Ron Bailey apologized publicly to the families of the employees by stating “Having a fatality or having a serious injury is our worst nightmare. I cannot imagine the pain and devastation that this has caused for the families and for that we’re sorry.” The explosion will be investigated by the Alberta Energy Regulator, Occupational Health and Safety, and Nexen as well. There has been a stop work order issued for the facility. According to Wood Buffalo deputy fire chief Brad Grainger “Upon arrival we were put on standby by their fire station. Our crews actually weren’t needed. The Nexen medical people removed the people that were injured and took them into the city, into the hospital. They had enough fire crew people on hand so we were just there to assist their needs if they needed them. As you can imagine, with a scene of this size it does take some time to manage and mitigate.”

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Alberta Breaking News Ft Mac World

Child Sex Tourism Charges Lodged Against Fort McMurray Man

child sex tourism, Fort McMurray

Police in Alberta have lodged child sex tourism charges against a Fort McMurray man, 33 year old Jashua Robert Tremblay. This is the very first time that this type of charges have been lodged under the umbrella of child sex tourism activities. Tremblay is now facing 2 charges of sexual interference, 1 charge of indecent exposure, and 1 count of luring. Tremblay was recently arrested in Fort McMurray on the charges and taken into custody. According to police the man is alleged to have sexually interfered with a 13 year old minor located in Ireland. According to a press release from ALERT “ALERT alleges that Tremblay twice travelled to Ireland to have sex with a girl he met on the internet. he alleged offenses date back to late 2013 when the victim was 13 years old.”

The child sex tourism charges against the Fort McMurray man are allowed under section 7 of the Canadian Criminal Code. Under this section anyone who is involved in committing certain crimes of a sexual nature against children can be charged in Canadian courts even if the acts were committed outside of Canada. The acts are charged as if the offenses were committed in Canada. The clause under section 7 that allows this was added to the criminal code in 1997. According to the ALERT force this is the first time that charges were laid for child sex crimes committed on an international level. Sgt. Paul Czerwonka explained “We do deal with international partners a lot in these cases, because the Internet takes us all over the place, right?. But as far as physically going to a different country to commit an offence, that is kinda something we don’t see every day. So as far as I know, a sex tourism charge is not something we charge very very often. As a matter of fact, I spoke to a crown prosecutor and in the last ten years, he says probably two or three times max he can remember this being laid.”

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Breaking News Ft Mac

Denis Victor Courchesne From Fort MacMurray Sentenced in Puerto Rico for Child Pornography

Denis Victor Courchesne, child pornography

Denis Victor Courchesne, a Fort MacMurray man who was arrested last year in Puerto Rico for possession and production of child pornography, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. The sentence was handed down in Puerto Ric recently, and that is where 45 year old Denis will serve the sentence as well. It all started when Courchesne arrived at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan late last year, coming from Panama City, Panama. During a routine customs search the officers discovered that the electronic devices Denis Victor Courchesne had with him contained child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement after Denis was arrested stating that he was a paid subscriber to websites and groups where he downloaded hundreds of child pornography images.

After Denis Victor Courchesne was arrested his electronic devices were further examined, and investigators also found numerous advertisements and videos that obtained child pornography. Courchesne admitted in an affidavit that he had a sexual attraction to prepubescent girls. Thanks to the hard efforts of customs officers and immigration officials this is one man who preys on children who will not have access for many years to come. Law enforcement are continuously monitoring the Internet because of the many groups and websites juts like the ones that Denis belonged to. Pedophiles are on the radar, and more countries are taking steps to stop these criminals before more innocent children can be hurt. What do you think a fair sentence for Denis Victor Courchesne would be?