Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Pond Inlet (Sep 16/02) - A police officer shot and killed a 26-year-old Pond Inlet man last Wednesday.

Reports from the community say Naytanie Atadjuat had taken a young boy hostage and was threatening him.

Upon their arrival at the scene of a reported domestic fight about 4 p.m. Sept. 11, two RCMP officers from the Pond Inlet detachment were confronted by Atadjuat, who was threatening his wife with a knife.

According to police, Atadjuat stabbed his wife, wounding her in the neck. Her condition was not known late last week.

After a struggle with RCMP officers, Atadjuat fled on foot to a nearby house, where he threatened to harm a boy there with a knife.

Cpl. Jean-Marc Nadeau of the RCMP's Iqaluit headquarters, said the officers confronted Atadjuat. He refused to disarm and was shot once by one of the officers.

Atadjuat was taken to the Pond Inlet Health Centre, where he died due to a gunshot wound.

The incident occurred near Ulaajuk elementary school, shortly after classes finished and students were on their way home.

Co-principal Elijah Tig-ullaraq said the school has already collected the names of 35 students who saw the shooting.

As a result, Tigullaraq said, "the school was opened as a crisis centre on Sept. 12."

Classes resumed two days after the incident, but focused on hands-on activities rather than academic subjects.

Some teachers at Ulaajuk school were reportedly concerned when they found out the boy threatened by Atadjuat was one of their students. The principal said the boy is in the Grades 4 and 5 class and attended school on Sept. 13.

"The majority of the students we talked to are trying to understand, but it's hard to say how they are feeling because there are so many individuals," said Tigullaraq.

The school will be arranging for different organizations around the North Baffin community of 1,100 to speak to students this week about safety, the role of RCMP and how to deal with their feelings.

Two of the three RCMP officers now stationed in Pond Inlet were involved in the incident.

"The two members involved in the incident have been brought to Iqaluit for a debriefing by the force psychologist." said Cpl. Nadeau.

How long they will be off active duty is not known.

Meanwhile, five investigators from the RCMP major crimes unit from Nunavut are in Pond Inlet investigating the incident.