Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Deline (Aug 01/01) - The mood was sombre and most businesses and offices were shut down Monday in Deline, as the community of 640 struggled to deal with a suicide-shooting that left three men dead the day before.

A crisis team of nurses, counsellors and other specialists was flown in from Yellowknife and surrounding Sahtu communities to help residents deal with the tragedy.

"People are still in shock and they're trying to figure out how to answer some of these questions," said Danny Gaudet, chief negotiator for the Deline Dene band council.

"We've been getting a lot of phone calls from all over the North and the community is very appreciative," Gaudet said.

According to police, the tragedy unfolded Sunday morning following a house party the previous evening.

At the party, a 21-year-old man, Jack Betsidea, got into a fight with several others. He left, only to return later with a hunting rifle. Shortly before 8 a.m., Betsidea confronted a group of about 10 people who were outside the house where the party had taken place. He then fatally shot 25-year-old Ryan Tetso, and 27-year-old Brian Kenny.

He also fired into the RCMP detachment nearby, breaking a pane of glass and injuring one officer, who received shrapnel wounds to his leg.

As the detachment's three officers were positioning themselves to deal with a potential gunfight, Betsidea turned the gun on himself and took his own life. It was all over in about 20 minutes, from the time Betsidea started shooting to the moment he lay dead in the street.

Sgt. Phil Johnson, with the RCMP's community policing section in Yellowknife, said alcohol is believed to be a factor in the incident. The injured officer, whose name was withheld, was treated and released at the community nursing station.

Nine officers were flown in from Inuvik and Yellowknife to help the local detachment with the investigation. The bodies of the three men were flown to Edmonton for autopsies Monday.

According to an RCMP officer who transferred out of Deline July 1, Betsidea was a troubled young man with a prior history with the police.

"He was suicidal at times and when he drank, he seemed unstable the couple times that I dealt with him," said Sgt. Kurt Lozinski from his home in Fort McPherson.