Another stabbing adds to violent year in Gjoa Haven

A 21-year-old man from Gjoa Haven faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and breach of an undertaking, following a stabbing on Monday morning.

A 21-year-old man faces an aggravated assault charge following a stabbing in Gjoa Haven on Monday, Dec. 11, that injured one woman, Nunavut’s RCMP reports.

Richard Tungilik has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and breach of an undertaking, and was released under strict bail conditions on Wednesday, pending his next court appearance in January.

The injured woman, who the RCMP say was stabbed several times, was released from the community health centre shortly after the Monday morning attack.

The Nunavut RCMP’s major crimes unit is continuing its investigation, but believes alcohol was a factor in the attack.

The stabbing is the latest in a violent year for Gjoa Haven, which has suffered a string of attacks in 2017.

In November, police charged a Gjoa Haven man with manslaughter after another man died from injuries sustained in a stabbing attack.

Other incidents include a 24-year-old man charged with aggravated assault after he stabbed a man in May, a woman accused of fatally stabbing her partner, and two men who face assault charges after seriously injuring a pair of men in a brawl.

As well, last December, Charles Qirngnirq, described by the RCMP as being suicidal and armed with a rifle, was shot and killed by police outside the Gjoa Haven airport.

Gjoa Haven mayor Joanni Sallerina later wrote a letter to Nunavut MLAs bemoaning the community’s “substantial increase in both suicides and homicides which we feel are directly related to the absence of professional mental health support.”

That letter was tabled by Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak in September, along with other letters from health staff and government officials calling for a mental health centre to be built in the community.