In an allegation set to be filed, the grandmother of a young boy killed when shots were fired into his family’s home on the Samson Cree Nation said the RCMP dropped the ball – and the tragedy could have been prevented.
In the early hours of July 10, 2011, five-year-old Ethan Yellowbird was sleeping in his fire truck bed, when shots were fired into his home.
The little boy died when a bullet struck him in the head.
Since the shooting, charged three youths in connection to the shooting, and in early November, they each entered guilty pleas to charges of manslaughter.
On Wednesday, court heard how the three accused planned to shoot at the house, and how the three teens, who were 13, 16 and 17 at the time, walked to the home and handled the gun.
Yellowbird’s grandmother believes there is more to the story.
“They didn’t just choose to go and shoot up a house in the middle of the night,” Debbie Buffalo said. “I think other people were involved in directing them to do that.
“They’re not being prosecuted or sought out by the police at all.”
Buffalo will file a complaint with the RCMP, with the suggestion that her grandson’s death could have been prevented.
She believes the shooting that killed the little boy was in retaliation for a crime involving Ethan’s uncle.
The grandmother has accused RCMP of failing to investigate the previous incident fully, it’s alleged that shooting involved one of the teens guilty of shooting Ethan Yellowbird.
RCMP would not comment on the allegation, a spokesperson told CTV News they would not comment on complaints.
With files from Serena Mah
