CREIGHTON, Sask. — Police say they have found a suspect in the fatal shooting of a man and the abduction of a 17-year-old girl in northern Saskatchewan.
RCMP Sgt. Craig Cleary says that officers located Jonas Budd, after an extensive search, at a home in Sturgeon Landing close to the Manitoba boundary.
"(We) are committed to trying to resolve this as peacefully and as safely as possible," Cleary said Thursday.
Officers established a perimeter around the house.
The search for Budd began in Manitoba and Saskatchewan on Wednesday after the shooting of a 17-year-old boy and the abduction of his girlfriend.
An Amber Alert was issued for Kayla Natomagan of the Lac La Ronge First Nation, but was cancelled when she was found unharmed near Cranberry Portage in Manitoba, about 450 kilometres from her home.
RCMP said at the time that they believed Budd, 43, had fled on foot into the bush. They had said he was armed and dangerous.
Cleary said Sturgeon Landing residents were being asked to be mindful of police barricades.
"These kinds of situations can last a short period of time or a number of days unfortunately."
On Wednesday, Budd's brother, who lives in Sturgeon Landing, said he hoped the matter would end peacefully without further bloodshed.
Glenn Budd said if he could speak to his younger brother he would tell him to "give himself up, don't hurt anybody."
Crown prosecutor Luke Coupal said an arrest warrant had been issued for Jonas Budd, just hours before the shooting, on charges of break and enter and mischief dating back to an alleged incident in early October at the home of Natomagan's mother.
He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday but didn't show up.
Tammy Cook-Searson, chief of the Lac La Ronge First Nation, has said Budd is the former boyfriend of Natomagan's mother, who had a restraining order against him.
She said family and friends identified the dead teen as Dustin Bird, who had been dating Natomagan. Police, who have not publicly confirmed Bird's identity, said they found one person dead at the scene of the abduction.
