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Police capture murder suspect in corridor-wide manhunt

Squamish students reeling after news of student death
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Local RCMP check cars heading from Squamish to Whistler during Wednesday's manhunt for suspected murderer, photo by Nicole Fitzgerald

By Alison Taylor

Grade 11 student Sam Eves was stabbed to death Tuesday night in Squamish and another teen was arrested following a 12-hour corridor-wide manhunt.

Ander Walker-Huria, a 19-year-old who had been living in Squamish for just one week, was captured on a logging road north-east of the Valleycliffe neighbourhood after a local resident called police with a tip.

The teen was on foot and taken by police without incident around 11 a.m. Wednesday as police dog teams closed in on him and a police helicopter circled overhead.

The capture marked the end of a massive manhunt, which began after a 9:30 p.m. call to police on Tuesday about the fatal stabbing. Roadblocks were set up to the north and south of Squamish for more than 10 hours as police tried to prevent the suspect for fleeing the area.

“We’re very happy with the outcome so far,” said Cpl. Dale Carr, the media relations officer with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. “But we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to prove the case.”

No charges have been laid as yet, he added.

The preliminary investigation at this point paints a tragic story of the events that unfolded on the night of Tuesday, March 27.

Four or five teenagers were having drinks at a wooded area in the Valleycliffe region when an altercation ensued. Carr described them all as being in their mid- to late teens.

The argument continued as the group moved to North Ridge Drive, where it escalated. Eves was stabbed outside.

He was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital where he later died.

Carr categorized the two teens as “new acquaintances.”

The news reverberated in the halls of Howe Sound Secondary where the 15-year-old attended school and at Don Ross Secondary, which he attended until just this year.

Don Ross principal Rick Smith knew Eves personally and described him as an active member of the student body, involved in sports and all kinds of school activities.

“Sam was an active and vibrant part of our community here,” said Smith.

“When kids were involved in any kind of an extra-mural or inter-mural activity, Sam was right there. He was one of our active athletic boys. He played on school teams… a very active, outgoing member of our student body. A very, very nice boy.”

Smith said Eves was the youngest of four siblings. The family, he added, only moved to the Squamish area in recent years, relocating there from Quesnel.

Like the students and teachers at Don Ross, at Howe Sound Secondary, Eves’s school of the last several months, there was shock and dismay at the news of his death.

Principal Nancy Campbell described the mood as somber in the school Wednesday as students and teachers grappled with the tragedy.

“Any time any of our students is involved in such a tragedy it’s traumatic for everybody and when the tragedy is of violent nature it’s even more disturbing,” said Campbell.

Teachers were briefed first thing this morning and broke the news to their first classes of the day.

Dozens of students left school to be at home with their families.

Grief counseling is on hand at both schools.

Walker-Huria remained in custody in Squamish Wednesday. The suspect is known to police in Ontario in connection with automobile thefts and home invasions.

The investigation continues.

This is the second homicide investigation in the corridor in less than three weeks. Homicide investigators were in Whistler following the shooting death of a 26-year-old Coquitlam man in the village on March 10.

A 27-year-old remains in police custody for that incident.