DRUGS, WEAPONS CHARGES FOR INTRUDERS AT STE ANNE SCHOOL

Drug and weapons charges have been laid against the three intruders
who came to a Ste Anne school Monday afternoon, threatening a student
and raising safety concerns in the community.

Seine River Superintendent Roy Seidler said it was inevitable the
situation would attract a lot of attention.

"Four police cruisers, parked in a schoolyard, will cause a lot of
alarm in any community, but particularly does in one that cares as
much as Ste Anne," he said yesterday afternoon.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., three men came to the Ste Anne Collegiate
(SAC); one of the intruders threatened a student with a Taser, or stun
gun, on outdoor school property.

Seidler said the men left when Ste Anne Collegiate principal Elaine
Lochhead confronted them outside, but in the meantime, police had been
called, arriving within about two minutes.

Late yesterday evening, Ste Anne Police Chief Marc Saindon emphasized
"no one was Tasered," and that not a single student was hurt
throughout the incident.

Nevertheless, Ste Anne Collegiate, as well as the Ste Anne Elementary
and Cole Ste Anne Immersion (all three are connected in one large
building) went into lockdown mode, purely as a precautionary measure.

"Lockdown is a term you use in a penitentiary, when you need to keep
people in cells, as opposed to keeping unwanted people out--we don't
use that term," Seidler said.

A follow-up investigation, Chief Saindon said, led police to 37
Desautels Street, the Ste Anne home of both Shane Barthelette and Dean
Barker.

Ste Anne Police executed a search warrant at this address shortly
after 9 a.m., as the department had received information about
possible illegal drugs in the home.

An undisclosed amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia were discovered
in the search, conducted with the assistance of the Winnipeg RCMP Drug
Unit and the Steinbach RCMP. Police did not say what types of drugs
were found.

Barthelette, who turns 19 in less than two weeks, and 38-year-old
Barker were taken into custody and held in cells at the Steinbach RCMP
detachment.

Chief Saindon said the search also led to the third suspect,
35-year-old Tracey Russell, who lives at 201 Furby Street in Winnipeg.
Police allege it was Russell who was armed with the stun gun when the
trio arrived at the school Monday.

Barthelette and Barker, both charged with possession of a narcotics
and possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, have since
been released from custody. Russell was booked into the Winnipeg
Remand Centre before midnight yesterday.

After taking Russell to the lockup facility, Saindon told The Carillon
the man was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon; he will
remain in custody for now.

The police chief explained why the men came to the Ste Anne high
school in the first place:

"Mr. Barker's daughter left his cell phone in her friend's car; the
friend, (who is a Ste Anne Collegiate student) was reluctant to turn
it back over to Mr. Barker," he said, noting it was a situation where
the suspects tried to take matters into their own hands.

Several concerned parents with children attending Cole Ste Anne
Immersion contacted The Carillon yesterday morning, saying they feel
their school was left in the dark on the matter.

"We had earlier spoken to the staff at the English elementary and the
Ste Anne Collegiate, and they told us their schools were locked down,
but the Immersion school was left high and dry--no lockdown, no
notification, nothing," one parent, who asked not to be named, said.

Asked what she meant, she explained the Ste Anne Elementary
town-dwelling students' parents were told of what had occurred just
after it happened and the bus students were even escorted to their
bus.

"These are the same buses that the Immersion students take, yet they
got no escort, nothing."

Reached for comment yesterday afternoon, Cole Ste Anne Immersion
principal Jean Magny seemed surprised parents thought their school was
not included in the safety plan.

"Yes, my school was part of the lockdown--it was locked, and nobody
had access to the building...everything was done properly."

This morning, Chief Saindon emphasized he hopes the arrests and
charges will send a message to Ste Anne residents involved with drugs.

"Parents have been concerned about drugs in and around the school
area--we will dedicate our resources to curtail these illegal
activities."