Zachariah Mackenzie Thompson, 18, died August 20th, 2010 from a gunshot wound suffered the day before.
Case status is open and active.
family breaks silence
Police are continuing to investigate a suspicious death, at first considered to be Edmonton's seventeenth homicide of 2010.
At about 6:30 p.m. August 19th, emergency services responded to reports of gunfire at 16 Meadow Crescent in the Maple Ridge mobile home park, near 17th Street and 63rd Avenue.
An 18-year-old man was found suffering an apparent severe gunshot wound. He was rushed to the University of Alberta Hospital where he remained in critical condition. As the teen was not expected to survive his injuries, homicide detectives were immediately brought in to investigate.
A man in his early 20s, said to be known to the victim, was found in the mobile home and taken in for questioning. He was later released.
Police have revealed little, saying only it wasn't yet clear if the shooting was criminal or accidental. Investigators did indicate they were not looking for other suspects.
Details emerged that an argument had broken out between the two men – apparently over the Internet.
The victim died in hospital the next morning shortly before 10:30 a.m.
As forensic staff remained on scene, area residents and the man's family expressed shock – read more »
Rosa DeMaris lived two doors down from the home for seven years but didn't hear anything in the way of gunshots.
"This is a little bit unsettling, but I'm not afraid to live here," she said. "This is such a great place to live and it was always quiet here until now."
A woman who lived next door to where the apparent shooting took place said a family – a mother, father, a teenaged girl and teenaged boy – lived in the trailer along with an "older" man.
"He's just a boy," Jennifer Deschamps said of the victim.
Deschamps said the family kept to themselves and that she didn't know any of their names.
"We just moved in from a rough neighbourhood, and it's beautiful out here. Stuff like this never happens."
An Edmonton Sun reporter was on hand when the teen's family showed up.
"My 18-year-old son is dead and that's all you need to fucking know," the victim's father told the reporter.
The family declined to offer further details. The Sun's cover shot seemed to capture the mood.
"His organs will be going to people who need them," the teen's father later told the Sun.
Funeral services were set for August 27th at the Millbourne Alliance Church.
On August 24th, police revealed the medical examiner determined that Zachariah Mackenzie Thompson, 18, had died of a gunshot wound.
As the investigation into the death remains ongoing, homicide detectives did not release information about the type of gun used, where Thompson was shot or the number of wound(s) he may have received.
Police said they had interviewed several people and were continuing to treat the death as suspicious, pending further testing and forensic results – a process that could take from weeks to months.
To date, no charges have been laid.
Family breaks silence
With speculation running wild, the Thompson family broke their silence and gave their account of what led to Zachariah's death – read more »
Julia Thompson, Zachariah's 23-year-old sister, told the Edmonton Journal that a defective gun went off on its own, shooting her brother in the head.
"It's just a bad accident that sort of rocked our family, we don't really know what to do," she said.
The Thompsons were avid hunters of small game. According to Julia, at least three registered rifles were in the home at the time.
Two were locked in a rifle cabinet in her father's room; the third – a .22 long rifle – was on top of a gun locker awaiting the repair of its safety mechanism.
The gun discharged in Zachariah's bedroom, leaving him brain dead.
"He wasn't very interested in hunting," Julia said, suggesting her brother didn't know how to handle the rifle and that he never intended to kill himself.
"It's a little easier to deal with without everyone saying it was a suicide," Julia told the Journal.
"It was just a very, very bad accident."
The suggestion was raised that the damaged safety mechanism allowed the gun to go off without having to touch the trigger.
Julia also took issue with the lingering questions surrounding the death.
The only other person in the trailer at the time was Zachariah's 21-year-old brother Levi who called 911 and was subsequently taken in for questioning.
"Is Levi in jail? Are they charging him with murder? Is it true?" family friends have asked.
"I'm tired of everybody looking at my brother like he murdered my other brother," Julia said.
The Journal presented Julia's account to a police spokesman and asked for a clarification of the investigation's status.
"A lot of people were unsure about why we were calling it suspicious," Clair Seyler said.
"They assume that means homicide and it doesn't. It means the investigation is ongoing and we have yet to determine if it's criminal or non-criminal.
"We treat every death the same. We have to be thorough, we can't go by hearsay."
To that end, police were in the process of testing the weapon while they await further forensic results.
"It might appear as a simple file or case to determine but we don't make judgments or assumptions on anything we do," Seyler said.
"We have to go through all the steps involved to make sure the victim's rights are followed."
Ironically, Julia said Zachariah was interested in going into law enforcement or the military.
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