Three men in their 20s have died and two other adults, including a woman, were treated for gunshot wounds after an early-morning Saturday shooting in Nunavut.

Cambridge Bay residents were shocked to find out three men from their community were killed early Saturday morning. Two more people were treated for gunshot wounds.
(Matthew Illaszewicz/CBC)

The wind whipped yellow police tape cordoning off an area around a four-plex Saturday afternoon in Cambridge Bay, about 800 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, as police investigated the scene.

Wooden crates held down blue tarps in front of the housing unit, but authorities wouldn't say what was under them.  

The RCMP said one man is in custody and is being interviewed by police.

News of the slaying stunned the tight-knit northern community of about 1,500 residents.

"The level of violence in this situation is unheard of, especially in Nunavut," RCMP Cpl. Randy Slawson told CBC News reporter Matthew Illaszewicz in Cambridge Bay.

Cambridge Bay is located on the south shore of Victoria Island along the Northwest Passage.
(CBC)

"I'm sure this is the first time it's happened. [It's] extremely shocking and unexpected."

Dead are Keith Atatahak, 28, Kevin Komaksuit, 21, and Dean Costa, 29.

Gunshots heard

Neighbours in the house across the street told CBC News they were awoken by what sounded like gunshots around 3 a.m. local time Saturday.  

The Major Crime Unit from Iqaluit and two units from Edmonton are travelling to Cambridge Bay to help investigate, but a blizzard might delay their arrival, Slawson said.

Dave Richardson, assistant deputy minister of health for Nunavut, said two of the dead men were from Cambridge Bay and the third was from Edmonton, although he wouldn't specify which man.

Hit in hand, arm

Two other people were treated for gunshot wounds after the incident, which happened between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., Richardson said.

Slawson said one was hit in the hand, the other in the arm.

A male was treated and released in Cambridge Bay, while a female was taken to Yellowknife for further treatment — a process Richardson said was delayed for several hours by a blizzard.

"I think she was stable, and to the best of my knowledge she'll be fine with treatment there for her injury," he said.

The woman was in a common-law relationship with one of the men who died, he said.

Slawson said investigators are being cautious about how much information they release until they figure out exactly what happened.

"Because it's going to end up in court — there's a suspect in custody right now — basically we're just keeping things tight to our chests until we get everything figured out, the sequence of events and how it all unfolded."

With files from the Canadian Press