Gang activity in the Meadow Lake area is being blamed for three recent violent incidents, including two that involved women having some fingers cut off.
In a media release Wednesday, the Meadow Lake Mounties said they got a call Friday at about 8:15 p.m., that an unknown man was banging on the door of a house and yelling that someone was going to shoot him.
The caller added a vehicle pulled up and a man got out and forced the unknown man into the vehicle. The vehicle then took off.
At approximately 8:25 p.m., the RCMP got a report of an injured woman asking for help at another house. The woman had suffered serious injuries, which included having three fingers cut off one hand.
About five minutes later, the RCMP got a similar call from the Flying Dust First Nation, where a woman had had two fingers cut off one hand.
Paramedics took the two women to hospital.
Officers subsequently saw the car from the first incident and arrested two people on the Flying Dust First Nation.
“Investigators believe the three incidents involve local gangs and are related,” the RCMP said in its release.
A 30-year-old man from the Waterhen Lake First Nation, a 27-year-old man from Buffalo Narrows, a 26-year-old woman from the Waterhen Lake First Nation, a 28-year-old man from the Flying Dust First Nation, and a 24-year-old woman from Meadow Lake have all been charged with kidnapping while using a prohibited firearm, aggravated assault, uttering threats, using a firearm in commission of an offence and possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized.
Three of the accused made their first court appearances in Meadow Lake. Arrest warrants have been issued for the 28-year-old man and the 24-year-old woman.