Five-year-old accidentally shoots three with high-powered rifle in Nunavut

WHALE COVE, Nunavut – Nunavut RCMP say three people were injured after a five-year-old got a hold of a high-powered rifle.

Sgt. David Lawson says police got a call Thursday night from Whale Cove, a remote community about 70 kilometres south of Rankin Inlet on Hudson Bay.

He says investigators found a five-year-old child managed to find, load and fire a rifle which had been unloaded after a hunting trip.

Lawson says the shrapnel injured three people who were sent to the community health centre with superficial wounds.

He says the three were treated and released.

Lawson says no charges are expected to be laid.

While the child who shot the rifle is very young, Lawson said such accidental shootings are not particularly unusual in Nunavut.

“It happens a couple times a year over the territory,” he said. “Almost every household up here has high-powered rifles. Growing up you learn very quickly how to use them.”

The incident is a reminder to everyone to properly store firearms with trigger locks and ammunition in a locked gun cabinet.

RCMP detachments in Nunavut give out free trigger locks to anyone who requests them, he added.