Skip to main content

Colten BoushieHandout

A suspect in the fatal shooting of a First Nations Saskatchewan man is facing more charges.

RCMP say Gerald Stanley has been charged with two counts of unsafe storage of a firearm.

Colten Boushie was shot and killed on Aug. 9 while riding in an SUV that was on Stanley's land near Biggar, Sask.

Read more: Colten Boushie's sister alleges RCMP officer injured her

Read more: The night Colten Boushie died: What family and police files say about his last day, and what came after

Read more: Fatal shooting on Saskatchewan farm reveals province's racial divide

Stanley, who is 55, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is out on bail.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for April.

The case has stirred racial tensions in the province: Some comments on social media sites have been against First Nations, while others have supported vigilante justice against the suspect.

Premier Brad Wall condemned social media posts after the shooting and called comments he'd seen online "racist and hate-filled."

First Nations leaders have said an initial RCMP release about the shooting fuelled tensions, because it stated people in the vehicle were taken into custody as part of a theft investigation. They were released without charges.

Boushie's cousin, who was in the SUV at the time of the shooting, has said several young people were heading home to the Red Pheasant Cree Nation after an afternoon of swimming and were looking for help when they got a flat tire.

Interact with The Globe