Tuktoyaktuk (Feb 28/03) - Former RCMP officer James Elias has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his younger brother Monday night.

The body of 24-year-old Brian Elias was discovered in the snow outside House 47, where the suspect resides, just after 8 p.m. Feb. 24.

The 39-year-old Tuktoyaktuk resident, who served as an RCMP officer in the North between 1985 and 1992, is also facing charges for the attempted murder of 29-year-old Samuel Gruben Jr. He was shot at least once and remains in an Edmonton hospital in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries, RCMP say.

Sgt. Marion Lamothe, a spokesman for the RCMP's "G" Division major crimes unit in Yellowknife, said Brian Elias was shot to death with a hunting rifle. He confirmed all parties had been drinking alcohol together, but said investigators are still piecing together evidence to determine how the situation turned deadly.

Lamothe does not know where Elias was stationed with the RCMP, but said he first served as a special constable and later a regular RCMP member in the North.

Following the shooting, Elias barricaded himself inside his home, holding his three-year-old and 14-month-old sons hostage throughout the night, Lamothe said.

About 15 to 20 Inuvik and Yellowknife officers, including a crisis negotiator and Emergency Response Team, were on the scene overnight. The coroner's office also responded.

Lamothe said negotiations with the gunman began at 7 a.m. Feb. 25.

"And approximately three hours later the negotiator was able to talk him out of the house and he surrendered peacefully to the RCMP Emergency Response Team."

Elias' two children were released unharmed into the custody of GNWT social workers. Lamothe said at least seven hunting rifles were seized from the suspect's residence, but the gun used in the shootings has not been positively identified.

Meanwhile, the community is struggling to come to terms with the horrific event.

"It's shocking. I mean, there is no words for it," said Mayor Eddie Dillon, who just lost his five-year-old granddaughter to death by natural causes in Alberta Feb. 14.

"Everybody is in shock. You just ask yourself, what's next?"

Dillon said the community has had to cope with similar tragic events in the past, but it doesn't get any easier.

"Any time it happens it's always gut-wrenching for a community.

"This community is small and everybody, somewhere along, is related. Everybody feels it when something goes wrong, and this is no exception to the case," he said.

"It's a difficult situation for all to deal with," said Lamothe, "but they seem to be dealing with it as best as can be expected."

As of Wednesday afternoon, James Elias was still in custody at the Tuktoyaktuk detachment. He will appear in Yellowknife territorial court March 4.