A five-year-old boy is dead after a bullet was allegedly shot through his house striking him while he slept on the Samson Cree Nation early Monday morning.

The young boy was the grandson to reserve Chief Marvin Yellowbird.

At 3 a.m. on Monday, RCMP and local Emergency Medical Services responded to a complaint of a shooting at a residence located on the Samson Town Site.

When they arrived, RCMP members located a five-year-old boy inside the residence who was shot and killed by a bullet believed to have been discharged from outside of the residence.

Neighbours reported hearing multiple shots, say police.

An adult female in the residence sustained non-life threatening injuries. She was transported to local hospital. Investigators are following up all leads and have not ruled out possible gang activity.

The name of the boy is not being released pending notification of kin and autopsy results. The autopsy was scheduled for yesterday morning at the Edmonton Medical Examiner’s Office.

A separate incident was reported earlier in the morning at 1:30 a.m. where a house located on the Samson Town Site was shot with a firearm believed to have been discharged from outside of the residence.

No one was hurt in this incident. RCMP are currently investigating and are attempting to determine whether these two incidents are related.

On Monday, RCMP members contained the scenes at the Samson Town Site.

RCMP members from Red Deer and Calgary Major Crimes, Forensic Identification Unit and local RCMP members are currently involved in the investigation. As the investigation is in its early stages, there is limited information available to release at this time.

RCMP is requesting the public’s assistance in this investigation.

Should anyone have any information in relation to this incident, they are encouraged to call the local RCMP Detachment at 780-585-4600 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com