Drug trafficking, gun violence up in Yellowknife, say RCMP

With two shootings in the last month in Yellowknife less than a week apart, Yellowknife RCMP say the incidents signal an increase in gun violence in the city. 

Two people died in one of the shootings; in the other, someone was injured. Police say both were targeted incidents and the second was related to the drug trade.

Staff Sgt. Byron Donovan spoke to Trailbreaker host Hilary Bird about the recent shootings and what's being done to tackle an increase in drugs and guns being brought to the territory from the south. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Do the numbers say we're seeing an increase in gun violence in the city? 

I think the numbers are clear, especially in the first three months of this year in compared to last year around the same time period. We have seen an increase in gun violence in Yellowknife with the two recent shootings. 

Why do you think that is? 

It's [linked to] the drug trade, and people that are involved in the illicit drug trade that are coming up from the south. We're seeing in increase of handguns and violence associated to the illicit drug trade. 

The guns that we typically see used in this sort of violence, are they typically illegal guns? 

I can't speak exactly to the ones involved in this investigation, because I don't know what the answer is to that. However, they're not the guns that people use to go hunting. Often times, we're seeing handguns. When we are seizing them, their serial numbers might be erased, which leads us to believe that they're being obtained illegally. We don't know how they're getting into the city, unfortunately. 

Do we know what the situation is on the ground in Yellowknife when it comes to the drug trade? 

There's no specifics on a gang, per se. There are pockets of people that come up who are organized and are coming to Yellowknife and they are involved in the illicit drug trade. Are they working in a group? I would say it's safe to say yes. 

In the two recent shootings, police have said the violence was targeted. Can you walk us through what that means?

It means in a sense that people that are involved are in the drug trade — whether as someone who is a dealer themself or working as people that are bringing these drugs in.