The mayor of Port Alberni, the hometown of the B.C. murder suspects, said the town will “pull together” after the country-wide manhunt ended Wednesday with the discovery of two bodies believed to be Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod.
“I think as a community we are incredibly saddened by this news and the outcome in general,” Mayor Sharie Minions said to CTV Vancouver Island Wednesday. “This is not the outcome we were hoping for…there is just so much tragedy that has happened here it’s just awful.”
Minions said in the face of “so many unknowns,” a lot of people in the community who were hoping for an “understanding” may not receive the answers they want.
“As a community we are going to pull together and support each other,” Minions said. “There are a lot of people who are going to be impacted by this news.”
Minions said she takes “this kind of news very personally” since she is a mother, adding that she planned to reach out the families of Schmegelsky and McLeod.
Previously, Schmegelsky’s father Alan told reporters that he did not expect his son to be found alive. He did not make a public statement Wednesday, instead a small sign was taped to the window of his home asking people to stay away.
Minions said the youth in the community of Port Alberni were affected differently “because many of them have gone to school with them [Schmegelsky and McLeod],” adding that counselling services would continue to be offered to everyone affected.
“Now we are trying to look forward and hope to support the RCMP in bringing whatever answers they can throughout the rest of their investigation,” Minions said, adding that residents had been talking about “reaching out” to the town of Gillam, Man., to offer support. Gillam was the centre of massive efforts to track down the murder suspects, and residents there were told to lock their doors and be on high alert.
“The thought of not feeling safe in your own home or your own community is not something that we would wish on anybody,” Minions said.
