17-year-old charged with careless firearm use, break-ins after Fort Smith RCMP operation

RCMP have laid charges against a 17-year-old regarding this past weekend's police operation in Fort Smith.

In a press release on Tuesday, police said the teenager has been charged with the careless use of a firearm after an incident where shots were fired at a Fort Smith Residence. The youth is also charged with breaking and entering at theDepartment of Lands office and a local residence.

The RCMP operation began Friday morning, and police told Fort Smith residents toremain indoors. RCMP were responding to a suspicious death and reports of shots fired.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted Saturday, but the suspect remained at large.

CBC received unconfirmed reports at the time that the Department of Lands building in Fort Smith had been broken into and that guns and a vehicle may have been stolen.

On Sunday, police said they had arrested the suspect.

Tuesday's press release said the 17-year-old remains in custody and is before the courts.

Officers are still searching for the shotguns that were stolen from the locations that were broken into.

Police also said they are still investigating the death, and an autopsy is set for March 9 in Edmonton.