ETA: Hmmm.... harsh words or harsh reality?
This reporter has been on location/boots on the ground reporting from day one.
Not aware of Chief Constant citing in the evening hours the fugitives captured -- maybe this was on social media? I recall he referred people to FB.
And finally-- there was no truth to RCMP deployed with "non-working radios." Officer could not reach his radio and fired into the ground.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/lucas-fowler-murder-hunt-
for-fugitives-kam-mcleod-bryer-schmegelsky-questions-linger-sighting-news-canada/8c183e5e-d8cc-4b21-adfb-badf93dc6f11
AUS 8/2/19
[...]
When I travelled to York Landing the following day while police were still on the ground searching, I spoke to another Bear Clan Patrol volunteer, Danielle McMaster. This was our interview:
AD: How certain was your other volunteer that this was the two suspects?
DANIELLE: We're not too certain at all, we've just seen two individuals from the back.
AD: And one was wearing a camouflage shirt?
DANIELLE: Yes
AD: How do you guys feel about the sighting?
DANIELLE: We're pretty excited. We're hoping it's them and we can catch them.
[...]
The narrative sounds slightly different from one account to another. When I was trying to ascertain the exact location of the sighting from the volunteers and the community's Chief Leroy Constant, I heard it described as at the garbage dump, near the garbage dump, rummaging through the garbage dump and between the garbage dump and water treatment plant. Mixed messages can of course happen via Chinese whispers when it comes to witness accounts, but it is worth noting.
Other things don't feel right. When I asked Danielle how she felt about her fellow volunteer possibly spotting these two, she said she felt 'pretty excited'. That is an odd response from someone who believes two suspected triple murderers are in the vicinity. Rattled? Yes. Shocked? Yes. Surprised? Yes. Hopeful of a breakthrough? Absolutely.
Excited?
The other thing that doesn't smell right is the way the reported sighting was handled by the community's Chief, Leroy Constant. In the evening hours after the sighting was called in, Constant declared that the two fugitives had been captured. That spread inaccurate information like wildfire across social media, even prompting some Australian media to start reporting the incorrect information. It was incorrect, police had not captured McLeod and Schmegelsky. bbm
The Bear Clan Patrol volunteers have a uniform with an emblem and their name on it. Currently, their group has over 375 members who work on a volunteering basis. They describe themselves as "a community-based solution to crime prevention, providing a sense of safety, solidarity and belonging to both its members and to the communities they serve".
From the outside looking in, they appear to be a vigilante group taking social issues into their own hands. When I interviewed Bear Clan Patrol volunteer Wade Taylor, he tells me, "We are there to help the community in Winnipeg in rough areas, we help people who are in trouble and we also stop people who are being aggressive."
The group has somewhat of a political motivation. On their ******** page [***], they explain why they were established.
"Our community recognizes that Indigenous people once had their own territory, language and culture - vibrant and cohesive social, economic and political systems held together by a spiritual worldview and a sacred responsibility to Mother Earth and all of creation ... With consciousness comes awareness, with awareness comes ownership of personal circumstances, and with collaboration comes change. It is within the context of this approach that the Bear Clan Patrol has been mobilized."
And yet despite all the resources thrown into searching York Landing immediately after the tip off, nothing was found. One police officer told me their sniffer dog was on the ground so quickly that afternoon, there is no way the pair wouldn't have been sniffed out if they were indeed in that forest they reportedly ran into. Not only that, they deployed air resources with infrared capabilities to look over the area and saw nothing. It just doesn't make sense. These two suspects can't just disappear into thin air.
As for locals who reported hearing gunshots, I later found out there were only two gunshots fired. They were from a tactical officer's firearm who fired into the ground. He had become separated from his team and he couldn't reach for his radio, so it was his way of communicating to his peers where he was in the bush. bbm
The end result of this promising tip-off was a total letdown. Manitoba police confirmed they can't corroborate the tip, and so they pulled their resources out and went back to the drawing board in Gillam. And now, they're sadly starting to phase out resources from Gillam itself.
There are several explanations for the false alarm in York Landing and I'm not going to spell them out. Whatever happened, every hour counts on the clock when a nationwide manhunt of this importance is underway.
And given it turned out to be nothing, Kam Mcleod and Bryer Schmegelsky are now another 12 hours ahead of the police. If they're alive, that is.
