Woman shot near Ucluelet linked to apartment where Port Alberni man found dead

CHEK
Investigators probe a Port Alberni apartment unit where 33-year-old Terrance Mack was found dead last week.

The Indigenous woman shot by police near Ucluelet over the weekend was renting the Port Alberni apartment where a 33-year-old man was found dead last week, CHEK News has learned.

Terrance Mack, an Indigenous man, was found in a Third Avenue apartment in Port Alberni May 4. Police said they suspected his body had been there for at least two weeks before they were notified of a smell coming from inside the building.

Mack would’ve turned 34 on Thursday and is the father of two children.

“My heart sank,” said Mack’s cousin, Allison Russ. “I’m going to cry right now. It’s just sad because his father’s gone, his mother’s gone, his brother’s gone. It’s just a whole bunch of sadness.”

An apartment tenant and others said Mack’s body was found in a suite rented by 30-year-old Melinda Martin.

Court documents say Martin was charged with assaulting three people this past Christmas. Two of the victims were family members.

She was supposed to make a court appearance on Wednesday in relation to the assaults, but the judge heard she couldn’t attend because she had been shot by police in Ucluelet this past weekend and is now in hospital in Victoria.

The shooting happened Saturday afternoon when Ucluelet RCMP was called to a report of a disturbance and a male needing medical assistance at a residence on Albert Road.

The Independent Investigations Office, which investigates police-involved incidents resulting in serious injury or death, says officers found the injured man and a woman inside the home.

“There was an interaction between the police and the woman,” said Ron MacDonald, the IIO chief civilian director. “The police reported that she had a weapon and there were shots fired by police and the woman was struck by those shots.”

The Ucluelet First Nation said the woman was the subject of a “stay away order,” and there had been concerns in the community in relation to the two individuals involved.

UFN President Charles McCarthy also said the weapon the woman was allegedly holding was officially reported as a replica gun by the Independent Investigations Office, which is probing the shooting.

The shooting is one of three police shootings involving Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation members in over a year. In June, police shot and killed 26-year-old Chantel Moore in New Brunswick while doing a wellness check. As it happens, Moore was a first cousin of Melinda Martin.

Meanwhile, Mack’s cousin says she hopes those responsible for his death are prosecuted.

“I do wish for justice to happen because I don’t want Terry to be forgotten,” said Russ.

The Martin family says it’s still calling on police to follow a number of recommendations following Moore’s death, including the wearing of body cameras.

khanson@cheknews.ca

Jeff Lawrence

Recent Stories

Send us your news tips and videos!