Thunder Bay police had a taxing 2020 investigating eight murders.
Detective Inspector John Fennell notes the number of yearly homicides has remained much the same over the last several years.
“I’ve been saying quite often now in the last year and a half…it’s a heavy burden on police resources, it’s shocking to the community, it’s labour intensive and the amount is always high,” says Fennell
The detective inspector adds the violent deaths of an 11-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were also concerning to investigators pointing out, “I know it absolutely impacts the members of this police service particularly…when you have members with children of their own investigating these types of occurrences.”
It’s also noted that police made arrests in all last year’s murder cases but Fennell points out the frequency is still “a high concern” and that the number for a city our size “is terrible.”

