Cdn-Firearms Digest Thursday, May 8 2008 Volume 11 : Number 417 In this issue: Tips lead to seizure of guns on the Samson First Nation One dead after Cecil Hotel shootout Home raked by gunfire; Schoolgirl hit twice Grizzly shooter says he had to kill bear to save son ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 19:28:07 -0400 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Tips lead to seizure of guns on the Samson First Nation PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2008.05.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 34 ILLUSTRATION: photo courtesy of RCMP Some of the firearms and drugs seized at a Samson First Nation home by Hobbema RCMP on Tuesday. Mounties credit tips from the community for the successful raid. BYLINE: KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA WORD COUNT: 158 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips lead to seizure of guns - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hobbema RCMP are crediting heightened community concern over recent violence for tips leading to a seizure of drugs and guns this week. On Tuesday at 2 p.m., cops raided a home on the Samson First Nation, seizing crack cocaine and a cache of weapons, including an SKS assault rifle. In all, four firearms were seized, including a .40-calibre semi-automatic handgun and a .243 hunting rifle with ammunition. The handgun was reported stolen from Edmonton while the SKS assault rifle was reported stolen from Richmond, B.C. The assault rifle was loaded with a large magazine and 20 rounds of ammunition. Police also seized 10.3 grams of crack cocaine and two lock-box-style safes. No arrests have been made but police say charges are pending. Hobbema Mounties said the tips that led to the raid came from concerned community members. The area has a history of violence due to gangs and drugs. It came to a head last month when 23-month-old Asia Saddleback was accidentally shot in the stomach during a drive-by shooting on April 13. Christopher Shane Crane, 18, has been charged in the shooting, as well as a 15 year old. After the shooting, Chief Marvin Yellowbird called a community meeting on the violence. Committees were struck and a curfew was imposed. Since then, RCMP say they have received numerous tips on criminal, drug and gang activity in the Hobbema area. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 18:27:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Bruce Mills Subject: One dead after Cecil Hotel shootout http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=b81059c4-05e2-43fb-aa06-6b2c88a87ef1 One dead after Cecil Hotel shootout Staff Reporter, The Province Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008 VANCOUVER -- Police say a "Wild West-style brawl" at the Cecil Hotel strip club led to the shooting death of a 30-year-old Richmond man with gangland ties at about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday. A 32-year-old Surrey man was also shot through the leg, but has since been released from hospital. Both victims are known to police for gang-related activities, said VPD spokesman Const. Tim Fanning. Homicide investigators search the parking lot outside the Cecil Hotel Thursday, after one man was killed in a brawl and shootout the night before. Vancouver police say the fight -- a flurry of fists, chairs and bottles -- broke out between two groups of men in the bar, then spilled out into the street after a shot was fired inside. As many as 20 to 30 men were involved at one point, and several more shots rang out, one of which hit the victim in the head, fatally wounding him. His body was found sprawled beside a dumpster just outside the back door to the bar. The search is on for at least one suspect in the shooting, but no description is available as witness testimony has been varied from the "very chaotic scene," said Fanning. Police say a number of witnesses have been questioned, and a homicide squad remained on the scene Thursday morning canvassing for surveillance video and other evidence. Four cars were towed from the back parking lot, three for forensic study and one because it belonged to the murder victim. The shooting death is the city's 11th homicide of the year. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide investigators at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 19:31:38 -0400 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Home raked by gunfire; Schoolgirl hit twice PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star=20 DATE: 2008.05.08=20 EDITION: Final=20 SECTION: News=20 PAGE: A1 / FRONT=20 ILLUSTRATION: Colour Photo: Jason Kryk, Star photo / SCARED: Shootingvictim Leria Elliott is transported by paramedics following a shooting Wednesday on Bloomfield Road. ; Colour Photo: Trina Elliot ; Graphic: (See hard copy for graphic) ; Photo: Jason Kryk, Star photo / EVIDENCE: A Windsor police identification officer picks up a bullet Wednesday from a shooting on Bloomfield Road. ; BYLINE: Trevor Wilhelm SOURCE: Windsor Star WORD COUNT: 492 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Home raked by gunfire; Schoolgirl hit twice - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A west-end neighbourhood was struck with terror Wednesday night when two men burst into a home and unloaded two nine-millimetre handguns, leaving a Catholic schoolgirl bleeding on the floor. Leria Elliott, 19, suffered two gunshot wounds to the foot and ankle. Her injuries weren't life threatening. "A car pulled up, two people had guns and went in shooting," said Trina Elliot, the victim's mother. "I'm so angry." "She goes to school, she don't bother nobody. She's never been in trouble. Never broke no laws. She minds her own business." CAR PULLED UP The gunfire erupted around 6:40 p.m. after a blue or grey car pulled up in front of a house in the 3600 block of Bloomfield Road. Windsor police Sgt. Tony Garro said two men got out of the car, went up to the house and started shooting. Both were packing nine-millimetre handguns. "One of the parties goes into the house, shoots a female in the house," he said at the scene. The shooters jumped back in the car and sped off west on Bloomfield. Garro said there were at least three men in the car, including the shooters. As of last night, he said, police only know that the shooters were two black men. Police had 15 yellow placards set up around the house and street marking evidence. Some marked holes where bullets penetrated the house and front porch. Much of the evidence was nine-millimetre slugs and bullet casings. Police spent a long time on the scene taking pictures, searching for evidence and peering under the front porch with a flashlight. Police couldn't confirm Wednesday night if the shooters knew who lived in the house, or whether the woman was the target or victim of unlucky circumstance. The motive was also a mystery. "That's why they're speaking to the male party of the residence, see if he knows," said Garro. Garro said Elliott's son was taken to the police station for questioning. He wasn't under arrest. Elliott said her son Curtis was on the porch when the shooters rolled up. He has a police record and was under house arrest, she said, adding it's possible the shooters were after him. "A 21-year-old ain't gonna tell his mother everything," said Elliot. "If you got a problem with my son, man up. Use your hands. That's how we do it here. You got a problem with someone, you use your hands." Elliott had her own ideas about where the shooters came from. "I've lived on this side of town my whole life," she said. "We're not like that. Whoever did this is an outsider. We don't do that, get out your gun, bang, bang kind of stuff. We got a problem with someone, we use our hands." Elliot said her daughter, Leria Elliott, is a quiet shy girl who volunteers in her spare time and wants to be an esthetician. She attends Catholic Central high school. Adrienne Woods was inside her home across the street when she heard an eruption of gunfire. She ran to her door because her 10-year-old son was outside playing. When she got outside, the men were still shooting. "He was standing at the door, just firing into the house," she said. When the getaway car sped off, Woods ran across the street and into the victim's house. She began a frantic search for anyone who was hurt. Woods found a bleeding woman cowering in her bedroom. "The girl was laying on the floor hiding next to her bed," said Woods. "She was crying, she was shaken, she was hurt, she was scared. She said 'I got hit, I got hit.'" Woods ran into the kitchen and grabbed a tea towel. She wrapped the girl's ankle hoping to stop the bleeding, then waited for help to arrive. "I've seen a lot of stuff down here," said Woods, "but never gunshots." "My first fear was that my kid was out there. I'm just glad there weren't shots fired back. Right now I feel like I want to move." twilhelm@thestar.canwest.com or 519-255-5777 ext. 642 windsorstar.com=20 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 19:33:29 -0400 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Grizzly shooter says he had to kill bear to save son PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2008.05.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: City & Region PAGE: B6 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Jim Pissot, Defenders of Wildlife Canada; BYLINE: Tanya Foubert, with files from Richard Cuthbertson,CalgaryHerald. SOURCE: For The Calgary Herald WORD COUNT: 389 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grizzly shooter says he had to kill bear to save son - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man charged after he shot a grizzly in Kananaskis Country says he killed the bear only because his 13-year-old son was in danger. Joe Lucas, a Canadian calf roping champion from near Carstairs, has been charged with five counts under the Parks Act and the Wildlife Act. But Lucas said he had no choice but to shoot the grizzly as it was approaching his son Kyle. "I had my boy there, and the bear was heading almost directly towards him," Lucas said. "He was 16 yards away, actually, when I shot him. It's not fun being attacked by a grizzly bear, that's for sure." Lucas said he has fully co-operated with the investigation. He even rode by horseback three hours to his truck to charge his cellphone and call authorities about the death. "They're wanting me to become accountable for killing that bear," he said. "I wonder who would be accountable if my son was dead or I was dead?" Lucas was part of a hunting party in the Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park when he shot the four- to five-year-old grizzly sow on Oct. 21, 2007. He will appear in Canmore provincial court this summer. He is charged with unlawfully hunting wildlife, unlawfully possessing wildlife, unlawful discharge of a firearm, failing to ensure a firearm in a wildland provincial park was unloaded and fully encased, and unlawfully destroying a bear. Each charge carries a fine of up to $100,000. "The reasoning behind the charges is it has been shown the bear may not have been shot in self-defence," said Alberta Parks spokeswoman Erin Mikaluk. "It is something we take seriously, and there is a lot of education on what to do and what not to do and how to avoid encounters with bears." Mikaluk said the investigation took more than six months because of the large quantity of evidence to collect and analyze. "The bear, in this case, was a lot of evidence itself," she said. Mikaluk said the majority of grizzly bear deaths are the result of human activity, and with only 50 in K-Country, their protection is taken seriously. The executive director of Defenders of Wildlife Canada applauded the decision to lay charges. Jim Pissot said he is encouraged to see the province doing its due diligence to protect the species. "It seems . . . this person could have taken a number of alternate actions to protect his safety, and shooting the bear was unnecessary," Pissot said. "We likely have fewer than 320 bears in the province outside of parks. Every single bear is critical at this point." The provincial government suspended the spring grizzly bear hunt for three years in 2006 when experts warned the animal's numbers might be much lower than the 1,000 previously estimated. Earlier this year, it was announced the suspension will continue into 2009. Tanya Foubert is a reporter for the Rocky Mountain Outlook. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V11 #417 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:drg.jordan@sasktel.net List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)