NNSL (Mar 30/98) - A Kugluktuk man shot and killed three of his children and then turned the shotgun on himself Thursday morning.

Steven Ayalik, 31, committed the murder-suicide around 6:30 after returning from a night of drinking.

The dead Ayalik children are Michelle, 13, Allison, 7, and Alexander, 4.

Their eight-year-old brother, Mark, was able to escape the family's home. He is now in the care of another family member.

The children's parents were separated and their mother was en route to Kugluktuk at the time of the incident.

Percy Kinney, chief coroner of the NWT, has confirmed the incident was a triple murder-suicide.

Some of the students in Kugluktuk stayed home with their families Thursday and Friday.

"We encourage them to use their family support system in times like this," said Donna Stephania, principal of Kugluktuk high school. We're coping. Efforts are being made to help them through. We have a very excellent staff that pulls together.

"We also provide, for the students, a place of safety and some normalcy under the conditions."

Gordon Bolduc, a hamlet councillor, described the unemployed Ayalik as "a person in limbo," and the incident as "tragic."

"Something like this affects the whole community," Bolduc said. "We've had a serious problem over the last several years with attempted suicide and suicide."

The community of 1,250 has endured a previous murder-suicide about 18 months ago and two suicides last November.

Bolduc, an adult educator, said an attempt to address the problem has been made through workshops on suicide prevention.

"We're in the process of setting up a crisis hotline for people who are confident enough to talk to other people in the community," he added.