RCMP Advises Male In Custody In Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Over Warrant [Updated]
The story was updated at 4:30 p.m. CST, Monday, February 1.
Yesterday, the Carnuff, Saskatchewan, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had asked residents in the area of Walsh Avenue to remain indoors and visitors to calmly exit the community of Oxbow over a unknown incident at a residence on Walsh Avenue. The RCMP were said to have received a request to provide a “wellness check” on a 25-year-old man who had a warrant for his arrest as a result of a missed court appearance on January 13.
The missive was issued at approximately 12:30 p.m. by the RCMP on Facebook.
“Investigators received information that possible explosives or firearms may be located at the residence. As a precaution and based on the information that was received, the RCMP Emergency Response Team, RCMP Police Dog Service from Yorkton and the RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit attended to assist Carnduff and Carlyle RCMP. Shortly after 7:00 p.m., the male was taken into police custody without incident.”
“The male appeared in Estevan Provincial Court this morning to face one count of failing to attend court when at large on an undertaking, section 145(2)(b) of the Criminal Code.”
Oxbow is located in southeast Saskatchewan and was home to almost 1,300 residents in 2011. The Town of Oxbow’s website describes the town as being located on “the Bakkan Play, one of the richest oil finds in our history.”
The RCMP Facebook post was quickly shared over 500 times, and attracted over 150 comments. One Facebook user asked “What was spilled this time?” before details of the nature of the incident became available.
Fracking technology has allowed companies in Canada and the United States to greatly increase the amount of oil recovered within North America, reducing the countries’ dependence on oil shipments from the Middle East, as reported by Public Radio International. The same technology has opened up massive previously untapped reserves in the Bakkan Formation and led to an economic boom in the area, on both sides of the border.
Fracking technology is not without environmental consequences perceived by some as being outside the realm of necessity. The technology requires massive amounts of water to be pumped underground at high pressure and has been blamed for tainting groundwater supplies with methane, as reported by Scientific American, as well as health risks, as reported by the Inquisitr.
Some health risk cited in relation to fracking include respiratory ailments and cancer.
Some companies involved in fracking have also faced criticism, and offered apologies, for offering $40 per day to workers who followed safety rules and regulations, and $150 per day to workers who didn’t. A well owned by Oasis Petroleum saw two men die, Brendan Wegner and Ray Hardy, and two seriously injured, in September of 2011, the day after they were brought to the well to attempt to increase its production. Of the men who survived, Michael Twinn’s lower legs were amputated and Doug Hysjulien suffered burns over half of his body. Twinn would later, tragically, die as result of suicide.
On October 16, 1982, 21-year-old RCMP Constable Douglas Ambrose Mark Butler gave his life serving the community of Oxbow. Another member of the RCMP was pursuing a suspect in a high-speed car chase, while Constable Butler used his cruiser to block the roadway. While he was seated in the vehicle, the suspect hit Constable Butler’s car at a speed estimated to have been 75-miles-per-hour, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In addition to the two-year RCMP veteran, two of the occupants of the suspect’s vehicle were also killed.
[Photo by Don MacKinnon/Getty Images]
