Cameroon Catholic victim of St. Paul, Alberta tragedy

A Catholic priest has been confirmed as one of the victims of Friday’s tragic events in St. Paul, Alta.

RCMP will not say whether the death of Rev. Gilbert Dasna is connected to the shootout that left a male suspect dead and three RCMP officers injured.

At around 6:15 p.m on Friday, the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of St. Paul, Father Peter Tran, was told by RCMP officers on scene that Dasna, 32, had been shot in the chest and was taken to St. Theresa Hospital, just a block away from the St. Paul Cathedral.

Tran arrived at the hospital at about 7:10 p.m. at which time he was told that Dasna had died just minutes before his arrival.

“Police informed Father Tran that Dasna had been shot in the chest and had been found bleeding and been transported by emergency to the hospital and soon died of his wounds,” said Pierre Lamoureux, spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of St. Paul.

Lamoureux says that Dasna was apparently alone in the church’s rectory, the residence of the priest beside the cathedral, when the shooting occurred.

Minutes later there was a shootout in downtown St. Paul that left one male suspect dead, and three RCMP officers injured.

An immigrant from Cameroon, Africa, Dasna was ordained to the priesthood on July 11, 2009, and began serving as the associate pastor in St. Paul May 19, 2011. He served the French community in particular, as well as the Catholic community of Saddle Lake First Nation,

“He was a joyful, peaceful man,” said Lamoureux. “Everybody loved him. He had true charisma with young students. It’s very hard to describe the feeling here any more than shock, sadness, numbness.”

The exact details of the incident are still unclear as RCMP and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team continue to investigate.