Woman charged with 1st-degree murder in case where Saskatoon police shot man during search
A Saskatoon woman is charged with first-degree murder after police say they discovered a body inside a house during a search early Saturday.
Police also say an officer shot a man during the search and that Saskatchewan's police watchdog is now investigating.
Chantal Lee McLaren, 32, appeared in provincial court Monday. She was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to return to court Wednesday.
Police did not reveal the name, age or cause of death of the alleged victim.
Prosecutor Frank Impey ordered McLaren not to contact a man he named in court. Impey anticipated the man would be charged in connection with the homicide.
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) was called in after a member of the Saskatoon Police Service tactical support unit shot a 34-year-old man, police said in a news release. The man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is believed to be in stable condition, police said.
The shooting happened while the tactical unit was executing a search warrant on a home on the 600 block of Lisgar Avenue in the Pacific Heights neighbourhood in the west end of the city at about 2:30 a.m. CST.
Two women at the home were also arrested.
The news release says the search warrant was related to an investigation for an aggravated assault with guns, but police say they discovered a dead body in the home and the death is considered suspicious.
Ashley Netowaysin, who lives in a home directly across the street from where the shooting happened, said both she and her newborn baby slept through the commotion and gunshot.
"I woke up to feed my daughter and I seen all the cop cars," Netowaysin said. She said there were about four undercover police cars, as well as the tactical support unit.
Netowaysin said police, paramedics and a fire truck were at the crime scene earlier in the week.
"My mom goes out and she's been here, you know, switching her vehicles, and they're walking by saying 'Hi' and stuff. Like, are we saying 'hi' to someone that killed someone?" Netowaysin said.
Police ask people to avoid the area while they investigate. They say traffic restrictions have been put up in the Lisgar Avenue area.
