RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says in a recent letter that information about firearms used in the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., will stay under wraps for now because it’s still part of an active investigation.
The Sept. 23 letter from Duheme to PolySeSouvient and four other gun control advocacy groups echoes a statement from an RCMP spokesperson earlier this month about the deadly February shootings at a home and school in the small B.C. community.
PolySeSouvient made a copy of Duheme’s letter available to CBC News and The Canadian Press.
In a Sept. 14 letter to Duheme, the groups said that as the new school year begins, students, parents, teachers and communities deserve verified information that could help address failures in gun control law or its enforcement before another shooting happens.
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“In a mass murder investigation like the one at Tumbler Ridge, operational secrecy and public accountability can coexist,” the groups said in their letter.
“Police should operate on a principle of maximum transparency and minimum secrecy to maintain public trust, prevent misinformation and allow informed debates about potential policy changes to increase public safety from gun violence.”
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Information about the firearms “is subject to an active investigation, which will conclude only once all investigative avenues have been exhausted and the evidence suggests there are no additional leads to follow,” Duheme said in his letter to the gun control groups.
“The specific timeline for the investigation depends on the progress of gathering and analysis of digital and physical evidence and so cannot be determined in advance.”
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In the letter, Duheme also cited the B.C. Coroners Service announcement of an inquest into the mass shooting.
“The RCMP is committed to participating fully in this process if and when our officers, employees or subject matter experts are called to provide evidence,” Duheme said.
“The RCMP will conduct a thorough review of any recommendations made by the coroner to determine their implications and how to best implement them, if necessary. Please rest assured that applying lessons learned from tragedies such as this is of the utmost importance to the RCMP and its executive cadre.”
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“Seven months after the Tumbler Ridge shooting, Canadians still do not know basic facts about the firearms used to kill six children, an educator and a parent,” PolySeSouvient said in a statement to The Canadian Press.
Duheme’s response offers no clear explanation of which facts must remain confidential and no indication of when the public can expect answers, the group added.
“We recognize that police must protect an active investigation. We are not asking for witness accounts, investigative tactics or anything that could jeopardize a prosecution,” PolySeSouvient said.
“But an ongoing investigation cannot become a blanket reason to withhold every verified fact about the firearms, and a coroner’s inquest should not mean waiting even longer for answers that can safely be provided sooner.”
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