SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Two brothers of a 16-year-old Yellowknife teen were looking through pictures for an obituary Wednesday, after learning he had died the day before.

Emergency officials took an unresponsive 16-year-old boy from the alley between 48 and 49 streets around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The youth was pronounced dead at Stanton Territorial Hospital, according to an RCMP press release. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

RCMP responded to a call of an unresponsive male youth in a downtown alley between 48 and 49 streets near Boston Pizza at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The 16-year-old was transported to Stanton Territorial Hospital in an ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

The boy's mother, who asked that her son's name be withheld, said police are still investigating the incident and her son's body is undergoing an autopsy, which should be complete by Friday.

Before heading out to church and with a shaky voice, the boy's distraught mother said she is not exactly sure what caused her son's death. Without explaining why, she implored teens in Yellowknife to be responsible for their actions.

"I'm his mother and I love him and one thing that I would like to say is for all these kids to think about what they do to their families," the mother said, who also asked not to be identified.

"Stick together, don't leave anybody behind. The partying and stuff that they do, they don't realize who they're hurting when they're not being responsible. I'm not saying (he) wasn't responsible, but to get the message to the kids."

The mother said her son's friends have been visiting her to express their condolences and to share a cry.

"They all love (him) and came to see me and expressed themselves and cried but they need to be together and look out for each other is what I'm trying to say. My family, we've got a great loss here."

Will Thomson, manager of Boston Pizza, said the event is unrelated to the restaurant, although staff noticed police vehicles in the area Tuesday afternoon as they were preparing for the dinner rush.

"I actually was up in the office doing paperwork. I came downstairs, was going to go do some errands and just at that point, some staff had just gone out back for a cigarette," he said.

A staff member came back into the restaurant to let others know there was an ambulance in the back alley and police were at the door of the restaurant's staff house next door.

"(The RCMP) were canvassing to get information to see if anyone saw anything. That's as far as I know," said Thomson.

He said he spoke with RCMP for about half-an-hour Tuesday night and gave as much information as he could, but Thomson said he didn't see much at all.

"We were all inside getting ready for dinner preparation and we have no idea exactly what's happening.

"It was about halfway down the alley. It wasn't that close to Boston Pizza."

"As I got in my truck, I saw them putting the stretcher in the back of the ambulance and that's all I saw. I didn't know what was going on," said Thomson.

He said some staff were around the victim's age and were friends with him.

The RCMP didn't comment Tuesday but did confirm the boy's death and their ongoing investigation in press release issued early Wednesday morning.

In another press release later in the day, the RCMP stated that the Office of the Chief Coroner of the Northwest Territories has ordered the deceased be transported to Edmonton for a post mortem examination.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.