PELICAN NARROWS — RCMP are working to determine the motive for a shooting that left a woman dead and a man seriously injured in a remote community in northern Saskatchewan.

The shooting happened Monday near the health centre in Pelican Narrows, 500 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

When officers arrived, they found the woman and the man at different spots on the same road, RCMP said. The woman died at the scene and the man was taken to hospital.

Residents were ordered to shelter in place, and a suspect was arrested at a home five hours later.

Insp. Ashley St. Germaine said Tuesday that charges have yet to be laid against the suspect.

Another person had been detained but was released without charges, she added.

St. Germaine said she doesn’t believe the shooting was random but couldn’t confirm the reason behind it. “That is a piece of the investigation and something that we’ll be working towards answering,” she said.

St. Germaine also said she couldn’t provide details about the gun used.

RCMP are asking residents to come forward if they know anything about the shooting. “Eyewitness accounts will be key to providing answers to the victims and their families,” St. Germaine said.

The shooting happened less than two weeks after a homicide in the small community.

A post made on the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s Facebook page said that killing prompted an emergency meeting of local officials to discuss an “escalating public safety crisis.”

RCMP Chief Supt. Murray Chamberlin said violent crime in the Pelican Narrows area has increased 49 per cent over the past decade.

He said the number doesn’t tell a complete story and that there are complex issues at play, including mental health and addiction.

“We have been actively meeting and working with the community to identify long-term solutions,” Chamberlin said.

A notice published by the First Nation on Monday said its band office and local schools would be closed for the rest of the week because of the shooting. The health centre is also being limited to those with serious medical conditions.

Dr. John-Michael Stevens, who has provided services at the clinic for nine years, said staff — and the community at large — are shaken.

These types of shootings are starting to become common, he said, adding, “I think what people are afraid of is that it’s only a matter of time before there’s a mass tragedy.”

Stevens, who lives in Saskatoon, said he learned of the shooting through a cellphone alert while seeing a patient at another clinic in Sandy Bay, Sask., 70 kilometres northeast of Pelican Narrows.

While RCMP said the shooting took place near the clinic, initial reports suggested it happened at the clinic. “Got a little bit shaken from that,” Stevens said.

The clinic primarily serves residents of Pelican Narrows, he said. On an average day, as many as 50 staff members are working, with patients coming and going.

The community itself is filled with “strong, compassionate and resilient people,” but recent acts of violence are transforming the area, he said.

“I don’t feel unsafe generally walking around outside, but I know the community members do.

“The community of resilient people is being torn down.”

— By Aaron Sousa and Jack Farrell in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.