Sagkeeng school stabbing raises safety concerns

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This article was published 07/11/2023 (1041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police continue to investigate the stabbing last week of a student outside a rural Manitoba junior high school.

A 13-year-old boy was stabbed near Sagkeeng Junior High School during a reported altercation Nov. 2 with two other boys, ages 12 and 13, respectively.

In a Facebook message conversation with a Free Press reporter Tuesday, the injured boy’s mother said her son had stab wounds to his chest and wrist and a slash mark on his face.

The teen was initially taken to the Pine Falls hospital, but was sent by ambulance to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg over concerns blood may have been pooling around his lungs. As of Tuesday, he was at home resting, his mother said.

She expressed concern about the lack of consequences for the other boys and about other children feeling safe at the First Nations school some 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

“We weren’t notified from the school as of yet as to what is going to happen with these other individuals, and what kind of safely measures they’re are going to be enforcing moving forward so nothing like this happens within the school again,” the boy’s mother wrote.

“From what I know, there are many parents scared to send their children to school as this is not the first time these boys have brought weapons into the school and the children are traumatized from what they have witnessed.”

The Free Press is not identifying the woman because of provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act that prohibit identifying a young victim in cases where the suspects are also youth.

The boy’s mother said the family moved to Pine Falls from Winnipeg just a couple of months ago, in hopes the rural community would be safer.

On Tuesday, Manitoba RCMP D Division spokeswoman Cpl. Julie Courchaine said police haven’t laid any charges or made any arrests in connection with the stabbing.

“RCMP have identified the suspects and continue to investigate. They are attempting to gather more statements and have been in contact with the school,” Courchaine said.

The incident report came in to the Powerview RCMP detachment around 10:20 a.m., Mounties said.

It also prompted the school to close at noon Nov. 2, “Due to unforeseen circumstances and student safety,” according to a social media post by the Sagkeeng Education Authority.

The junior high remained closed until Nov. 6, and some parents commented on social media they wanted the education authority to hold a community meeting to address their concerns about safety at the school.

Sagkeeng Junior High principal Rhonda Michaud and Sagkeeng First Nation Chief E.J. Fontaine couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com