Victims, suspect in northern Quebec slayings were related

A loud noise wokeJimmy Kaitakaround 8 a.m. on Saturday. When he stepped outside he saw IllutakAnautak, known around the small northern town ofAkulivik, Que.,as a quietyoung man with a heavy past.

Anautak was on his phone,Kaitak said. He didn't think much of the scene, until he saw the knife that Anautak was carrying.

"It was scary,"Kaitaktold CBC News. "I hid. I didn't want him to see me."

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From his home inAkulivik,Kaitakwatched as someone ran away fromAnautak. The fleeing figure covered several hundred metres before collapsing.

Officers from KativikRegional Police arrived on the scene soon after, confrontingAnautak with their guns drawn.

Kaitak, the assistant town manager, couldn't see what happened next, but Quebec'sindependent investigations bureau (BEI) said Saturday that local police fired twice atAnautak, killing him.

It was only several minutes later, whenKaitakand his girlfriend emerged from their home, that they realized the scale of the grisly events that had unfolded around them.

They opened their door to find the lifeless, bloodiedbody of their neighbourEliQinuajuakon their doorstep.

'My heart is broken'

Also fatally stabbed were Anautak'suncle,LucassieAnautak, and his young cousin, who was about 10 years old.

Two other victims are in hospital, but have since been downgraded frombeing listedin critical condition. Investigators said Sunday evening that the two people are out of the woods.CBC News is not naming these victims because one is a minor.

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Provincial police, along with investigators with the BEI (which investigates police-involved shootings), arrived Saturday eveningin Akulivik to begin their investigation.

The Inuitvillage overlooks Hudson Bay, some1,700 kilometres from Montreal, and has a population of only 600 people. The grieving process there has only just begun.

"My heart is broken. My mind is broken," saidEliAullaluk, a towncouncillor and one of Anautak's uncles.

"This is not normal. I feel sorry for all the people in this community. Our prayers go them all."

In a statement,Makivik, an organization that representsQuebec's Inuit, said it is "shocked and deeply saddened by the incomprehensible tragedy in this beautiful community.

"Things like this are not supposed to happen in our society. All ofNunavikis in mourning.Our thoughts and prayers go
to the families and people of this close-knit village," the statement said.

The events were all the more shocking for residents ofAkulivikbecause the suspect,Anautak, had a reputation for being kind, if quiet.

"He was always smiling, always friendly to me,"Kaitak said.

But Anautak's brother, 16-year-old Moses Chamberland Inukpuk,shared a number ofFacebooks posts with CBC.

Theirtiming coincides with whenKaitaksaw Anautak use his phone.

In one post, Anautakwrote thathestabbedmore than five people.In another:"I just don't care if I killed someone else."

Others who knewAnautaksaid he had been struggling to cope with his mother's death. She was murdered in 2014 by her boyfriend.

Cleaning up andcoping

Kaitakspent several hours cleaning his neighbour's blood from his doorsteponSunday. "We're a small community. Everybody knows everybody here," he said.

WilliaNappatuk,Akulivik'smanager, said the community is banding together following the tragedy.

"People are coming in today andtomorrow[from out of town] to pay their respects for the family but we don't know yet when the funeral will be," he said.

Premier Philippe Couillardsaid the Liberal MNA for the area, JeanBoucher, is currently in Akulivik to provide support.

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"We know that social issues among theInuitsFirst Nations in general, butInuitsin particular are very, verysignificant and we're working very hard to improve that," Couillardsaid Sunday while attending a partyevent in Quebec's Saguenayregion.

CBC reached out to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada for comment. They didnot respond. Neither did Romeo Saganash, the federal MP for northern Quebec.

Quebec's minister for native affairs, GeoffKelley, declined an interview request from CBC.