Time and patience paid off. After a 12-hour standoff in the small community of Sturgeon Landing, a man wanted for murder and abduction surrendered to RCMP. Forty-three-year-old Jonas Budd is now behind bars facing numerous charges.
This drama began to unfold at about 3:00 Wednesday morning on the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. A 17-year-old male, Dustin Bird, was shot to death — and his girlfriend, who is Budd’s stepdaughter, was abducted.
She was found later that day by RCMP from Cranberry Portage, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. Budd had run off into the bush. He was considered armed and dangerous. He eventually made his way to his brother’s home in Sturgeon Landing. RCMP set up a perimeter and began negotiations. Sgt. Craig Cleary told The Canadian Press a lot of officers from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan were involved.
“There were in excess of probably 40 members there and then we had multiple units also attending,” he said.
At about 10:30 last night, it was all over. Budd’s sister, Joyce, is thankful for the way it ended. She had feared her brother would not come out alive.
“Oh, it’s a big relief. We are going back to the community to deal with our brother Glenn to make sure his health is OK,” she said.
Joyce Budd was also thankful for the way the RCMP handled the situation. Initially, she was frustrated and feared the incident would end with her brother’s death, but she says that changed as time wore on.
“They were answering our calls and they were answering our questions. They were not totally leaving us in the dark anymore because they knew we had a lot of support in the community,” she said.
There is a strange irony in this tragedy. The home RCMP surrounded in Sturgeon Landing was the scene of a similar standoff in the early 1990’s. Joyce Budd’s father, Pierre, was inside. He died from what was ruled a self-inflicted gunshot. Joyce Budd says the family has been through a lot over the years.
“This happened to my dad years ago. We were just kids. We did not know what we were doing or how to get help or any kind of support. That traumatized us and left us wondering what happened and we never got those answers.”
Jonas Budd will be in a La Ronge court Monday morning to face seven charges including first-degree murder, uttering threats and kidnapping with a weapon. His sister is glad he is safe and at least the whole story of what happened and why will be told.