Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Deline (Aug 06/01) - The shooting tragedy that claimed three men is part of a much larger problem, said the brother of one of the victims last week.

"This incident didn't just happen on the weekend," said Leonard Kenny. "It happened a few times, young men taking their anger out, taking guns out and shooting around. A lot of people said eventually something like this would happen, and it did happen -- my brother was an innocent victim who got shot."

Kenny's brother, Brian, 35, died July 29, killed by a suicide-shooter who went on a Sunday morning rampage.

According to police, Jack Betsidea, 22, got into an argument at a party that morning, returned with a hunting rifle and killed Brian, and 25-year-old Ryan Tetso, before turning the gun on himself.

"This whole incident happened because of alcohol," Kenny said. "Brian's gone and this community has a problem that we have to work on. It's not just here, the problem is bigger than the community itself. If we don't deal with the problems now, it's going to happen again."

According to an RCMP officer who transferred out of Deline July 1, incidents involving alcohol, suicide and firearms were becoming more and more common in Deline and Fort Good Hope over the last several months.

"I had mentioned that something was going to happen eventually, if people didn't secure their firearms safely. The trend was getting more and more severe," said Sgt. Kurt Lozinski from his home in Fort McPherson.

Lozinski said he responded to several incidents during his eight-month posting in Deline that led him to believe that someone was going to get seriously hurt, and soon. "It seemed to be a trend in the last three or four months -- we received a lot of calls about firearms, people wanting to kill themselves with guns, different people getting into a fight with their spouses and saying, 'I'm going to get a gun and shoot myself.'

"We probably had about eight people within the year threaten to either get or use their firearms to harm themselves." In three instances, people were actually arrested for firearm offences.

Last winter, a man was arrested for firing at a house with his girlfriend inside. That man received six months in jail.

In May, a distraught man was firing a shotgun at random around his house before barricading himself in his parents' home. When he tried to escape on foot, he was captured by police and received three months in jail.

A month later, another young man with a history of mental health problems was arrested for shooting at random after an argument with his girlfriend. When he ran out of bullets, his father tackled him. The young man received eight months in jail.

"We weren't overly impressed by the terms of incarceration but the courts have the right to proceed anyway they want. Stiffer sentencing would make some people think twice, but education and counselling are probably the only things that are going to stop the problem altogether," Lozinski said.

Although Lozinski said he doesn't remember Betsidea having any previous gun offences, the young man had shown signs of erratic behaviour in the past.

"He was suicidal at times. At one call I was on in May, he was intoxicated and suicidal. He went out on the ice floe when it was breaking up, and he wouldn't come in. We finally got him back, the family took care of him."

Lozinski said he had a strong feeling someone was going to take their own life, eventually. "But I had no idea that it was going to go to this level."