Family of sisters killed in Langside St. shooting has seen 'a lot of death,' chief says

The family of two sisters killed in a mass shooting in Winnipeg had experienced death and displacement prior over the years, according to the chief of their home First Nation.

Stephanie and Crystal Beardy were among four people killed during a shooting at a rooming house on Langside Street on Sunday.

The family, from Lake St. Martin First Nation, was forced to leave when flooding devastated the community in 2011, Chief Christopher Traverse told CBC News.

"Not all of the community members were able to move back, we were forced to stay here in the city," Traverse said.

"Crystal and Stephanie didn't have a place to come home to, so they're here, stuck in the city, forced to stay in the city."

Crystal, 34, lived in Winnipeg, while Stephanie, 33, had recently moved back to the reserve to live with her mother, Traverse said.

The entire community of Lake St. Martin, nearly 3,000 people, had to evacuate their homes during the flooding. About 300 families, around 1,000 people, still don't have homes to return to, Traverse said.

The chief said he knows the Beardy family personally. The mother of the two women, Beverley Beardy, works in the band office and asked Traverse to be their spokesperson, he said.

"That family, in particular, they have a lot of death in their family," he said. "This is not her first daughter that passed away, this is her fourth daughter."

He saw Stephanie as recently as Friday, when she left Lake St. Martin for the city.

"She was coming to Winnipeg to visit for the weekend … half her family's in Winnipeg," he said.

Crystal was the mother of two boys, while Stephanie had two girls.

Traverse says the band council is supporting the family, and he met with members of the family in Winnipeg on Monday.

"I think the family's going to take care of [the children]," he said.