Five homicides in two weeks but no threat to public: Saskatoon police

As of Wednesday afternoon, Saskatoon has seen five homicides over the past two weeks.

The fifth came after police determined a suspicious death over the weekend to be a killing.

Cameron McBride, deputy chief of operations with the Saskatoon Police Service, agreed that’s a high number.

“It’s a lot, given the period of time,” he said.

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However, he noted, police have not found any connections between the killings.

“There’s absolutely nothing that connects them or that should lead us to believe there’s a circumstance in Saskatoon that is a grave cause for concern,” McBride said.

The deputy chief said he couldn’t divulge many details because the circumstances are still being investigated and may go before the courts.

“We know that an individual’s lifestyle and the intersection between drug use and gang life and those types of high-risk indicators leads individuals to a point where they’re more likely to experience violence,” McBride shared.

He listed drug use, drug trafficking, gang affiliation and mental health as key contributing factors to homicides in the city. He also mentioned the significant prevalence of firearms in Saskatoon.

McBride could not confirm whether the five homicides were gang-related.

He did, however, say there is no public safety risk, noting the number of homicides in a city in a given year is unpredictable.

“We may end the year with five,” he said. “There’s just absolutely no way to predict how many you might have within a given year.”

Complex needs require complex assistance

Presently, McBride said police are seeing a clear need in Saskatoon for shelters that offer additional services beyond a bed for the night.

He said a large number of people with drug or mental-health issues in Saskatoon are struggling to remain housed and access the support they need.

“That’s of significant concern to us, and that’s why we’re relying more and more on our partners in the community and our partners in government to provide the expertise we need to work with those individuals and to try and get to the root-cause issues that are leading to increased numbers of disturbances and assaults and violence on the street,” McBride explained.

“Shelter services that do not provide wrap-around services for individuals with complex needs will only address the housing piece of what is most concerning.”

McBride said he’s confident that police in Saskatoon will “definitely” see a difference if the city has more shelters offering all-encompassing support.

“The response needs to be different, and what might be experienced within the community might be different,” he shared.