Canada News
A look at the four people who died in the shooting in northern Saskatchewan
LA LOCHE, Sask.—Four people were killed and seven wounded in a mass shooting at a school and a home in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche on Friday. A 17-year-old, who can’t be named, has been charged with murder and attempted murder. Here’s a look at those who died:
Marie Jaqueline Janvier
The 21-year-old began working at the school in La Loche this school year as a teacher’s aid. Friend Ashton Lemaigre says she loved her new job. She was kind and patient with children and talked about getting her teaching degree someday.
Deegan Park, her boyfriend of three years, said he would have given up the rest of his life just to spend another year with her.
“I grew up not a good guy, but she turned me right,” Park said. “She was that much of a great person to turn me right from all the wrongdoings I used to do. … She was a fantastic person.”
Adam Wood
The 35-year-old started his teaching career in September in La Loche. “Adam was quite an adventurer, had a passion for life, and would often make you laugh until your stomach hurt. He was always up for a good challenge and lived each day joyously,” his family, which lives in Uxbridge, Ont., said in a statement. Wood had previously worked with youth at an urban farm in Thunder Bay, Ont. “There are some people out there that hold a light. Adam was one of them,” the group member said on its Facebook page. “I think about the darkness that came over the school in the moments before his death. And then I think about his light ? how he would have offered that to everyone around him, and how, maybe, that would have made that horrible situation somehow a little bit easier for the people near him who survived.”
“He was such a natural, genuine person,” said Jon Wynn, co-owner of a Thunder Bay outdoor gear store where Wood worked for six years while studying outdoor recreation and education at Lakehead University. Former employees and even merchandise business representatives, such as North Face, reached out to the store, Wynn said. “He touched so many,” said Wynn. “It’s so nice to know that people care.” Former colleague Andreanne Bolduc remembered Wood immediately befriending her two rescue dogs, despite their skittishness around men. “I feel truly blessed to say that he was my friend.”
Fellow worker Stafford Clarke joined Wood and another friend several years ago for a gruelling adventure race in Manitoba’s backcountry, describing Wood as a leader and morale booster. “That to me just speaks so much to who he was—always there and willing to help out and give you a helping hand.” Clarke also remarked on how involved Wood was in the community, whether through church, school or work. “Everybody thinks their lives are busy but he always found the time to help out.”
Dayne Fontaine
Police say the 17-year-old was killed at a home before the shooting at the school. His friend Brittney Lemaigre remembered him as a caring person.
“I just started to know Dayne a couple weeks ago, I felt like I’ve known him a lifetime.” Lemaigre wrote in a Facebook conversation with The Canadian Press. “He was such a caring person, so thoughtful. … He had a heart of gold. Made anyone around him laugh. His time on Earth is cut too short.”
Drayden Fontaine
Police say the 13-year-old was found dead in the same home as Dayne.
The mother to both boys, Alicia Fontaine, posted about her grief on Facebook. “My heart shattered into a million pieces,” she wrote. “So sad I don’t have no more babies.”
Loren Lemaigre, calling himself a family friend, posted on Facebook: “So young and for nothing.”