Brent Simon, who operates Thunder Rapids Lodge, says that surviving the cold last night and traversing the bush would not be easy. (Facebook/Thunder Rapids Lodge)

By Susan McNeil

Thunder Rapids manhunt

Outfitter near manhunt says suspects needed shelter to deal with cold

Oct 25, 2024 | 12:01 PM

An outfitter who operates the campground and lodge at Thunder Rapids said that it would not have been a comfortable night for two remaining shooting suspects believed to be hiding in the bush near his lodge.

Mitch Simon knows the area extremely well and said yesterday, there was a lot of police presence near the lodge, which is a 40 km drive from where Highway 123 meets Highway 55.

“I’m not sure how they would spend the night if they weren’t dressed properly. I guess they could get under a tree or down in a low-lying area out of the wind,” he said.

Making a lean-to out of spruce branches would also provide some respite from weather that dropped to –2°C but was –7 with the wind.

“They could probably do OK in a setting like that,” Simon said.

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The incident started yesterday morning just north of Prince Albert, a 235 kilometre drive away from Thunder Rapids Lodge.

Four suspects, first driving in a dark coloured SUV, approached a construction worker and demanded the keys to his work truck, a 2020 white Dodge Ram pickup. They also took his cell phone and, before they left, shot him.

RCMP said his injuries are serious, and family has confirmed that the victim remains in stable condition in the hospital.

That happened around 7:30 a.m. It was about 8:30 a.m. before the victim was found by a passerby and police were called.

The shooters abandoned the black SUV and left in the pickup, heading towards Highway 55 and made it several hundred kilometres to Highway 123, which has only one destination, Cumberland House.

Customers coming into the Thunder Rapids store and Simon himself are scratching their heads as to why the suspects would head there, as there is no way out.

“It’s a dead end, you know,” he said. “I don’t know why they would head up there either. It sounded like they were on their way up to Cumberland House.”

There is nothing in that area for people who are unfamiliar with the bush and want to escape the law.

Behind the lodge is a lot of swamp and extremely dense bush which makes travelling difficult, even on foot.

More experienced people use Argos in the swampy areas, which there are a lot of.

Simon said he went out and told officers where the trails are and where good vantage points could be found. He was not asked to help with the search.

“The only thing I could have added to their chase was I know where all the bush trails are, cutlines and power lines and stuff like that. I went out there to tell them quickly where they could post people and stuff like that,” he said.

While Simon said the sheer volume of responding law enforcement made him feel safe, he would have liked to have had an update before they left late in the evening.

“It’s not very reassuring knowing that they could be still sneaking around in the bush and what are you supposed to do? You can’t be walking around in the yard with a shotgun all day long just because you’re scared that maybe there’s a couple people sneaking around in the bush,” he said.

He would have felt better with a police presence today or some information about the possible danger level.

When police discovered the pickup yesterday, it was blocked on the highway by a large rock truck, there because of construction.

The highway is known for how difficult it can be to drive and this spring, both Cumberland House Cree Nation and the Northern Village of Cumberland House demanded the province fix the road after health services were shut down because people could not travel the road.

READ MORE: Communities demand province repair road

paNOW has been told that the construction crew knew the suspects were coming, saw the pickup and blocked it on purpose but so far has not been able to confirm that with the people on site.

This photo was sent to paNOW, showing the pickup collided with the rock truck on Hwy. 123. (submitted/Facebook)

Two guns were seized from the pickup and two suspects, a male and female were arrested shortly afterwards. Two other suspects were believed to be in the bush and no new information has been provided since on the status of the search.

The search continued last night until about 11:30 pm, when the agencies involved packed up and left. When paNOW spoke to Simon Friday morning around 10 am, they had not yet returned.

An update is expected later today.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com