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Weekend shooting sends two to hospital in Watson Lake

home invasion ended with a shooting that sent two men to hospital on Saturday.Two men entered an Upper Liard residence and assaulted the…

 home invasion ended with a shooting that sent two men to hospital on Saturday.

Two men entered an Upper Liard residence and assaulted the homeowner. The man freed himself, grabbed a firearm and shot one of the assailants, according to an RCMP release.

The second intruder escaped without injury.

At approximately 7 a.m. Saturday, police and emergency medical personnel were called to the scene and found two injured men.

Both the homeowner and injured intruder were taken to Watson Lake Hospital with non-life threatening injuries before being transferred to the Whitehorse General Hospital.

While the homeowner was released from hospital, the intruder, who suffered a serious but non-life-threatening injury, was transferred to Vancouver for further medical treatment.

Both the injured intruder and the homeowner are Watson Lake residents, said RCMP Cpl. Grant MacDonald on Monday.

“Police officers are still investigating whether the intruders and the homeowner knew each other and the nature of any existing relationship.”

Three rifles were seized from the residence, said MacDonald.

Whitehorse RCMP’s major crimes unit continues to investigate.

Charges are pending, said MacDonald. (LC)

CRIME

More break-ins reported

at downtown businesses

Last Friday, thieves smashed the front window of Jacobs Industries on Fourth Avenue and made off with $2,000.

They wandered around the company’s yard and left with a suitcase welder worth about $1,500 and $500 in cash.

“There’s been so many places hit, these guys need to be stopped,” said Jacobs Industries manager Paul Jacobs.

“It’s done in the early morning when there are very few vehicles on the road, let alone cops.”

Jacobs didn’t discover the break-in until Friday at 7:40 a.m. when he arrived to work.

“I was driving into the yard and I saw the big hole in the front window, so I went over and checked it out right away.”

Jacobs followed the perpetrator’s footprints through the snow in the company’s yard and across Fourth Avenue toward Old Town.

In response to the loss, Jacobs is beefing up its security system by putting bars on the windows and installing a security camera.

But Jacobs is not a lone victim of crime.

Police are encouraging all downtown businesses to use their alarm systems, motion sensors, video surveillance and limit the amount of cash left on the property after a rash of break-and-enters in Whitehorse last week.

Downtown businesses are reporting an increasing number of break-ins, according to an RCMP release.

Thieves hit Northern Metallic on Fourth Avenue on November 25 and November 30, making off with vehicle batteries.

The Superstore Gas Bar on Second was also a target on Thursday, with thieves grabbing an undisclosed sum of money, according to the release.

And on Wednesday night, a window at Mama’s Corner Store was smashed and roughly $300 worth of cigarettes were stolen, said owner Mitch Cormier on Thursday.

The Whitehorse RCMP is continuing its investigation into the incidents.

Police ask that anyone with information on the thefts to contact the Whitehorse detachment at 667-5555, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. (LC)

HOT MAIL

Canada Post kiosk set ablaze Friday

A mail kiosk at the corner of Hamilton Boulevard and Thompson Road was deliberately torched on Friday at around midnight.

The structure, worth about $30,000, sustained $3,000 in damage, said Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks on Monday.

The individual boxes were closed so it’s still unknown whether any mail was damaged.

Police officers and fire department officials determined the kiosk was intentionally set on fire and that an accelerant had been used to get it started.

The Whitehorse RCMP is continuing its investigation into the incident.

Police ask that anyone with information on the fire contact the Whitehorse detachment at 667-5555, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. (LC)